The 1997 Phoenix Lights Incident

On the evening of 13^th March 1997, the states of Arizona and Nevada would play host to one of the most fascinating and widely viewed events of recent history. Other sightings on the same evening were also reported in New Mexico and even south of the border in Sonora, Mexico. The incident is not only one of the most credible but one which boasts a (relative) wealth of footage and photographs. It was perhaps one of the first such encounters that played out in the Internet Age – albeit itself in its relative infancy – and as a result, the encounter not only became nationwide news but eventually caught the attention of the entire world.

In fact, so intense was the focus that politicians would even publicly comment on the incident, some playfully mockingly, others with a serious and determined tone. The fact there was a need to acknowledge such an apparently bizarre incident in the first place, however, is perhaps telling in itself. In all, the number of witnesses to the events was in the hundreds for a conservative estimate, although many researchers boldly state thousands of people viewed the events as they unfolded.

Incidentally, and perhaps itself a testament to the uniqueness of the incident, the initial reports of the sightings come from two different time zones of the United States (Pacific Time and Mountain Time). All times shown throughout, and for our ease here, are all Mountain Time – the time zone of the majority of the sightings and bulk of the incident – unless, of course, otherwise mentioned.

Before we delve in, though, check out the short video below. One of the many pieces of footage of the strange events of March 1997.

From Henderson, Nevada To Paulden, Arizona – The Initial Sightings

The first recorded sighting of the evening in question came from the town of Henderson, Nevada at around 7:55 pm (6:55 pm Pacific Time) on Thursday 13^th March 1997. According to the witness, a large V-shape object with six large lights spread evenly along its underside on its leading edge passed over him. The object was approaching from the northwest and was at least the size of a 747 jet as it passed over him and out to the southeast. He watched it for several moments before it disappeared from his view over the horizon. The witness would ultimately submit a well-documented and detailed report of the sighting to the National UFO Reporting Center ^[1] (NUFORC). This is perhaps worth noting as it isn’t an act of somebody seeking attention or notoriety.

What is largely agreed to be the second sighting of the evening occurred twenty minutes later at 8:15 pm in Paulden, Arizona (who operate an hour ahead of Pacific Time on Mountain Time). A police officer claimed to leave his house at this time, enter his car and begin driving north. As he was doing so he looked out of his window to the west and witnessed five “reddish or orange lights” against the early night sky. He would describe the lights as being four together with a fifth light “trailing” them. He would also report that each of the lights appeared to have “two separate point sources of orange light”.

The police officer immediately turned his vehicle around and headed back home. Once there, he positioned himself where he could view the lights with no disruption to his vision and watched them through a set of binoculars. They eventually vanished over the southern horizon within two minutes and making no sound.

A “Blitz” Of Reports

At around 8:17 pm, twenty minutes after the first sighting from Henderson, Nevada and only two minutes after the sighting in Paulden, Arizona, switchboards across the two states lit up in a “blitz” of calls. Telephone operators at the National UFO Reporting Centers and other UFO groups who accepted such reports, many and various police departments, Luke Air Force Base, and media outlets far and wide would suddenly face a barrage from residents telling of strange and bizarre lights in the skies overhead. These waves of calls, incidentally, although they would slow after several hours, would last several days.

Although some of the reports varied somewhat – leading many researchers to ponder whether there was more than one type of craft in the skies of the southwestern United States that evening – the vast majority would assert that the lights were most definitely part of a solid structure, as it blocked out portions of the stars entirely as it passed.

Most of these first “wave” of calls came from areas to the south of Paulden, in Prescott and Prescott Valley which reside around fifty miles to the north of the city of Phoenix.

One witness, John Kaiser, would make his report from Prescott Valley. He was with his wife and his two sons when they noticed a “cluster of lights” in the sky, west-northwest of their location. He would also report that the lights were in a distinct triangular pattern. However, he would claim that the lights were red, apart from the light at the central point of the triangular craft, which was a bright white. He and his family observed the object for around two minutes through binoculars before it “banked to the right” and headed away from Prescott Valley towards the southeast.

Sightings Over Prescott And Prescott Valley

Another sighting from Prescott would state the witness saw “five yellow-white lights in a V-formation”. ^[2] They were moving out of the northwest of their location and heading towards the northeast before it turned slightly south, eventually moving out of sight. The point of the V appeared to be the front of the craft. Regarding the lights themselves, the report would state that the first three were in a “fairly tight V”. The remaining two, however, were further back on the “legs” of the V. The object remained in sight for approximately ten minutes.

As the reports increased, one detail that remained constant was that whatever the huge object was, it made “absolutely no noise whatsoever”. Many witnesses would even stress this fact specifically in their reports, stating that they had gone out of their way to attempt to hear any sound but to no avail. This, to many, alerted them more than anything else that they were witnessing something out of the ordinary.

Another report, for example, from just north of Phoenix would speak of a “wedge-shaped craft” with five lights on it which moved with a strange “gliding” motion. The object was so huge that it blocked out a huge portion of the starry sky. Another sighting would come from a mother and her four daughters. They were driving near Camelback Mountain when they witnessed an object shaped like a “sergeant’s stripes” come into view in front of them. They would also describe how it blocked out a large amount of the sky above as it hovered over them for around five minutes. Even stranger, it would “fire” a white beam to the ground below, causing its lights to dim somewhat. It would then move to the south towards Sky Harbor International Airport.

Unable To Block It Out With A Fist At Arm’s Length

The next significant sighting in the timeline of the evening would come from Dewey, Arizona a little after 8:20 pm and around ten miles to the south of Prescott. A car full of friends was driving on Highway 69, heading north towards Prescott for a prearranged appointment. However, en route, they would witness “a very large cluster of lights”. This aerial anomaly formed a clearly distinctive V-shape in the sky.

The driver of the car would quickly bring the vehicle to a stop in the car park of a grocery store. All of the occupants stepped out so as to view the object clearer, which was now directly over them. The witness who made the report to NUFORC (who also had substantial flying and aviation experience) would claim that when he clenched his fist and held it up at arm’s length, his fist still failed to cover the object, such was the behemoth-like size of it. Furthermore, he would estimate that the craft was less than a thousand feet from the ground and yet “it was absolutely silent” and moved “at a very slow pace”. Also interesting, and something we will come back to later, the witness claimed to see a small, aircraft heading in the direction of Prescott Airport at the time of the sighting.

Given that the credibility of the witness appears to be sound it is also perhaps worth noting his claim of reporting the incident to Prescott Airport and Luke Air Force Base. He would claim that he spoke to a female operator at Luke Air Force Base, and furthermore, this operator offered that they had been “deluged” with similar reports that evening. In investigations following the sighting, the air force base would deny any such reports coming into the base.

The Phoenix City Sightings

More sightings from residents of Phoenix would come into various news outlets and UFO research and investigative groups, including MUFON. ^[3] One came from an anonymous witness who saw lights in a triangular formation as he walked near 42^nd Street and Ray Road. He would state there was anywhere from five to seven lights and the object moved from north to south. As it moved away from his location, again making no sound at all, the lights began to disappear one by one as if being turned off. Incidentally, this detail comes up in a much earlier sighting by Dr. Kitei that we will examine shortly. This is, though, one of the few initial reports to mention this detail. Whether this was down to the witness’s perspective or not is open to debate.

Bruce Gerboth would report a similar sighting from Ahwatukee near South Mountain (which incidentally contains several television transmission towers) at around the same time as the witness on 42^nd Street and Ray Road. He would claim that a little after 8:30 pm a strange object with “five amber lights in a triangular formation” was moving steadily across the sky at a relatively high altitude. From his angle, he would claim the five lights were most definitely part of one, single, solid structure. He watched it for several moments until it disappeared over the Gila River (which we will also come back to later).

As Gerboth was on a walk at the time of his sighting, he remained in the park for another hour before setting off back home. When he did, he witnessed the amber lights again. This time, they appeared out of the west-southwest direction and seemed to settle somewhere near the Estrella Mountains. He firmly believed that this was the same object from earlier.

More Reports Of Scrambled Jets

According to Channel 15 – a local news station – a pilot taking off from Sky Harbor International Airport – would report strange lights above him to the control tower. They would claim, however, they could not see any unusual activity on their radar systems.

Another woman, this time in Chandler, to the southeast of Phoenix, claimed her nine-year-old daughter had seen a “traveling beam of light” moving through her bedroom. This object was also witnessed by her neighbors, Don and his wife, Grace, as it passed over their homes. They would claim to see seven orange lights in a triangular formation on the underside of a sold structure made up of large “grey panels”. As they watched, one of the lights “detached” and moved to the right of the object. It then returned and “re-docked” with the huge craft. They too, recalled no sound whatsoever, despite the low altitude of the craft and the behemoth-like size of it.

Perhaps these “detached” lights were crafts in themselves. A sighting from truck driver, Bill Greiner might suggest so. He was driving along Interstate 17 towards a cement plant near Luke Air Force Base when he witnessed two bright, orange lights overhead. As he approached his destination, he also saw three jets scrambling from the air base. They were heading towards one of the objects, which he estimated was around a mile or two away. He would describe the objects as looking like “hot air balloons without the gondolas, glowing a yellow-orange from within”.

As the jets approached the nearest orb, it suddenly shot directly upwards and vanished leaving the jets to pass by as if it had never been there. In the distance, the second orb simply hovered silently. The witness would even offer to take a lie-detector test.

Detail Begins To Break Down

The further into the incident, with the calls and reports building up literally by the second, the actual timeline begins to become a little less clear. Reports would come in from areas right across Nevada, and in particular, Arizona. From Tucson, Kingman, Glendale, Tempe, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chino Valley, and of course, Phoenix. Some of them, however, still stand out from the rest.

For example, an “amateur astronomer” from the west side of Phoenix, would view the object from his home to his west. He would state the object was a “cluster of solid, unblinking lights” which moved steadily from north to south. In a similar description to that given by the police officer from Paulden, he would state it appeared that each of the lights was comprised of “two individual smaller lights”. Interestingly, he also claimed to witness two smaller aircraft in the area near to the huge object. One of these would veer off to the east and the other to the west.

Another report, from Tucson, came from an unnamed man who claimed he watched a strange formation of lights for around fifteen minutes between 8:45 pm and 9 pm. From his location, the lights came in from the northwest, passed overhead, and then disappeared from his view over the nearby mountain range.

The Ley family, Tim and his wife, Bobbi, their son, Hal, and their grandson also witnessed the lights from their Phoenix home. However, they would watch them approach from over sixty miles away when they crossed over Prescott Valley. At first, the lights appeared to be separate entities in their own right. However, the closer they came, the more of a distinct V-shape they became. And were very obviously part of the same, solid, and huge craft.

The Ley family speak below.

The Gila River Sightings

Whether or not there is a connection to the bizarre craft witnessed on the 13^th March 1997, a strange sighting over the nearby Gila River is perhaps worth mentioning here, if only to acknowledge the incident in relation to the Phoenix Lights. MUFON field investigator, William Hamilton, would receive information from a fellow investigator about a man named “Steve” who lived in Ahwatukee near the South Mountain. According to the information, Steve had been videotaping and making note of “strange orange lights” appearing over the Gila River. And had been doing so for several days going back to the 10^th March.

Hamilton would head out to speak with Steve on the 13^th March, with the Phoenix Light incidents only hours away from unfolding. He would meet with him and while they had apparently missed the lights that evening, they did observe ample video footage of them. However, just before 10 pm, while stood on Steve’s balcony, one of the strange lights suddenly appeared again over the stretch of water. Then another. And another. In total, the two MUFON investigators saw six orbs of yellow-orange light.

While the sighting, and the ones recorded by Steve on the previous evenings could just be coincidence, it is a little bit of a stretch to think there isn’t at least a remote connection to what was happening over the skies of Phoenix at the same time.

The Mystery Aircraft!

Perhaps one of the most intriguing parts of the whole episode was the claims of small aircraft seen by several witnesses during the course of the sightings. According to reports, these aircraft were United States Air Force F-15 fighter jets. And according to a specific report made to NUFORC, these aircraft were purposely scrambled on an intercept mission from Luke Air Force Base.

When the frantic telephone calls began to settle a little, although they continued in a steady stream for a considerable amount of time, a “lengthy telephone call” came in from someone claiming to have witnessed the jets scrambling. According to the information, the mission of the jets was to intercept the object, which it apparently did over Phoenix, and photograph it with their onboard gun-cameras. Once this was achieved, the jets immediately returned to Luke Air Force Base.

The mystery caller appeared to be of an official source, quoting the names of officers involved in the mission and their rank, as well as precise times and take-off details. The base, the caller went on, was “closed down” during the operation. One jet managed to get to within a mile of the object before its targeting radar was “neutralized” – apparently by the strange craft.

It was NUFORC’s opinion that, although the information appeared extremely credible, they were unable to corroborate any of the details and so the names of the pilots remain unreleased. For their part, Luke Air Force Base deny any such mission took place. Even more interesting was an apparent follow-up call from the mystery caller. Apparently alert to his disclosure, he informed NUFORC that he had been transferred to a post in Greenland, effective immediately. According to their reports, he has not been heard from since.

Flares? Not Likely!

Despite the high number of reported sightings during the several hours of activity that evening of 13^th March 1997, the main piece of footage that became the point of controversy – and largely was used by the military through Luke Air Force Base to provide an explanation for the sightings – occurred to the south of Phoenix between 9:30 pm and 10 pm. Numerous pieces of video footage existed from the sighting, and many hundreds of people (at the very least) witnessed the incident with their own eyes.

Representatives from the air force base would insist that what had been seen that evening was nothing more than flares that were launched from their A-10 “Warthog” aircraft near the Gila Bend “Barry M. Goldwater” firing range. These flares, claimed the military, were launched between 9:30 pm and 10 pm and were “slow-falling, long burning LUU-2B/B illumination flares”. They “appeared to hover”, they claimed, due to the rising heat of the flares. They then fell behind the Sierra Estrella mountain range to the south of the city.

While some people still cling to this offering from the air base, it is not really realistic. If we accept these flares were launched at the time the military says, for example, it doesn’t account for the sightings which began at 7:55 pm – more than an hour before. It also doesn’t explain the motion of the lights. And furthermore, it doesn’t explain the differing details of “clusters” of lights as opposed to the V-shape for which the incident is probably most well-known. In short, the official explanation simply doesn’t hold water.

Interestingly or not, the mountain range where the lights disappeared over, Sierra Estrella, translates as “Star Mountain”. We will come back to this last point later.

The Sighing Of Fife Symington, Former Arizona Governor

The Governor of Arizona at the time was Fife Symington. Shortly after the sightings, he would hold a press conference where he would introduce “an alien” to the podium. It was, he would claim, an attempt to defuse the rising tension of the situation. Many people were not at all happy with the move. Feeling that Symington was ridiculing and dismissing what they had seen.

In 2007, however, he would apologize for the incident, claiming his intentions were good but misguided. He would also admit that he did see more than he made out he had on the night in question. And furthermore, behind the scenes, officials were as spooked and confused as everyone else. He would state that he saw “a huge” craft that was obviously a very solid structure.

Symington would offer that he had snuck out that evening in his own car to have a look at what everyone else was looking at. When he returned home, his wife claimed that he looked sickly pale. He would state that he didn’t know what he had seen, but he “wasn’t going to talk about it”.

He is also quite adamant that the craft was not one of military origin. When pushed on the issue in an interview with FOX News in 2014, he would state that the sheer size of the craft alone eliminated it from being a secret military aircraft. He would further state that it was “the biggest thing I have ever seen in the skies”. And it should be noted that Symington is a former pilot with experience in aviation.

He would conclude that unless the US military could provide proof otherwise, that what was seen that evening was very likely a “technologically far advanced” alien craft.

Dr. Lynne Kitei’s 1995 Phoenix Encounter

One of the witnesses to the Phoenix Lights was Dr. Lynne Kitei, who had actually experienced a strange sighting with her husband in early-1995. That evening, from their home which offered a stunning panoramic view of the city, Kitei and her husband would view three orange orbs in a tight triangular formation. She would estimate that each of the lights was between three to six feet in size. And although they shined brightly against the night sky, they didn’t “glare at all”. Kitei would elaborate that “every other light out there, glares. These did not. They were very soothing. Very mesmerizing”.

She would run to get her camera in order to document what she was seeing. As she did her husband immediately called her back to the room. One of the lights, he would yell, was “disappearing”. Kitei would recall the light vanished “as if on a dimmer switch. It didn’t budge at all, it didn’t waver, it didn’t take off. It just dimmed. As if once it disappeared it was still there, we just couldn’t see it anymore”.

Kitei would go on to the balcony next to their bedroom and snapped two quick pictures as she stepped outside. She instantly noticed how “silent” everything was around her. There weren’t the normal evening noises of the area. It was “as if time had stopped”. As she stared at the two remaining orbs, Kitei had the feeling that there was “an intelligence” behind them. She also remembered numerous thoughts suddenly entering her mind. This is an interesting detail that is often mentioned in UFO sighting accounts.

Then, the second light began to disappear leading Dr. Kitei to quickly snap a picture of it. It was the only picture that turned out. You can view that picture below.

The January 1997 Sightings

Dr. Kitei, although she didn’t forget about the encounter, didn’t see any more lights like the bizarre incident in 1995. That was until the evening of 22^nd January 1997. From a similar position in her home to the first sighting she would witness three amber orbs lined up on the horizon seemingly hovering over the city. She would also see the light again the following evening in front of South Mountain. She would offer that she was certain of their position as they were in front of the red blinking warning lights positioned there to warn approaching pilots of its presence.

The lights would disappear shortly after Kitei tried to film them. However, around thirty minutes later they would reappear. She ran to the balcony. As she was about to take a picture, a row of six more amber lights appeared above the first three. The formation looked almost exactly like the strange lights that would appear on 13^th March 1997. The same straight-line formation, the same orange glow, and the same triangular appearance.

Kitei would report the incident, speaking to such departments as the FAA and Luke Air Force Base. Both would state they had no record of the sightings, and later on during investigations, no record of her call. Although no further incidents occurred following this January sighting, it appeared that whatever did pass over the states of Nevada and Arizona in March 1997, they were already flying over the same region of the United States at least two months earlier. And possibly before that.

Other Intriguing Details

To go through each and every witness sighting from the evening of 13^th March 1997 is unnecessary. However, we can gain a general idea of just what was parading itself over Phoenix and other areas of Arizona and Nevada by extracting the most common and collaborative descriptions.

The lights, for example, had an alien quality to them in themselves. Many reports would state they appeared to “swim” within their solid casing. Others would say they were like “gaseous globes” and, like Dr. Kitei’s description, they “didn’t glare”. They were bright but not intense. An almost controlled glow. The V-shape of the lights also appeared to stay locked in position with no movement between them whatsoever. If they had been separate, even the most skillful pilot wouldn’t be able to avoid a small amount of deviation. This would be the same if they were flares (not to mention there was no smoke visible near the lights, which flares would have produced). Further still, traditional aircraft simply would not fly in such a V formation at night.

It is estimated that the V-shaped craft was at least a mile wide from the end of each leg. This, as Fife Symington claimed, is easily much larger than any aircraft known to the public. And while it isn’t impossible that the object was a clandestine military craft, the sheer size of it combined with the slowness with which it moved would suggest a technology far advanced of what is available to keep it airborne. Even if such a propulsion device was available to achieve this, none of the witnesses heard any noise related to such a propulsion system. Perhaps stranger still, it moved right through Sky Harbor Airspace – which is protected – with no reaction.

The Importance Of Councilor Frances Barwood

In terms of a cover-up, during a meeting at the Phoenix City Council several months later, Frances Barwood, a former councilwoman and Vice Mayor, would begin to have suspicions several months after the incident. She would bring up the night in question after several of her constituents had asked the question of her. She was mocked publicly and then furthermore, told that “they just didn’t want to deal with that”.

Barwood would go on to speak to over 700 people as she investigated for herself what was seen. All of them said the same thing – apart from one, a young child who claimed he had seen “airplanes”. Interestingly, the council decided to use his witness statement above the hundreds of others. Their actions, considering they rejected the statements of both active and retired military veterans, police officers, as well as whole groups of people who witnessed the incidents together, perhaps speak volumes of their intentions.

The video below looks at the Phoenix Lights incident and features extensive commentary from Dr. Kitei. It also features commentary from Frances Barwood. She would recall that the actions of the authorities after the incident was strange, to say the least. Barwood should perhaps also be noted for the bravery she showed in the face of what was obviously an attempt to limit discussion and forget about the events of March 1997. It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that it was her raising the issue on the record that led to the hundreds of people she would eventually speak to coming forward.

A Purposeful Display?

Was this a purposeful parade? And if so, what was that purpose? And who was behind it? It is estimated by some that over 10,000 people witnessed the events of 13^th March 1997. And of course, hundreds of thousands more, if not millions, have seen the events after the fact since the incident.

Whether it was, awe, excitement or wonder as the population gave their reports, though, the emotion was palpable. Strange, perhaps given the perceived “fear” that the population would break down in the face of visitors from another world, is that all of those who took reports from the public that evening, nobody recalled any sense of fear from any of them.

If, for argument’s sake, this event was a way of testing the general public’s reaction, then the results are clear. That scenes of terror and panic wouldn’t erupt should extraterrestrials suddenly arrive on Earth. Some believe that this is exactly the kind of thing that covert military departments would do. There genuinely seems, however, a desire from the US military and authorities alike to distance themselves from the incident.

The one newspaper to run a story on the encounter in the days immediately following the event, for example, would quote the police department as “receiving a few calls” regarding the incident. To anyone who worked on the switchboard that evening, this was “ridiculous”. They were swamped with calls for hours. In fact, how the print media would treat the events is perhaps worth looking at a little further.

Unofficial And Discreet Print Media Blackout?

Maybe one other aspect of the incident that doesn’t often come under scrutiny is the attitude of the print media. Numerous television channels were more than happy to carry any footage residents would offer their way. And those who had managed to wrap their head around the Internet would do likewise. The print media, though, would stay completely clear of the situation. Such widespread sightings and fascinating, outlandish stories are an editor’s dream. Certainly in terms of the potential for sensationalist headlines and overblown accounts. It doesn’t quite make sense to ignore them. However, aside from one or two articles in lesser-known newspapers, nothing of any real significance was printed until days later.

This is particularly suspicious. Especially given that the bigger publications and international publishers would have had access to the details of the story immediately. It wouldn’t be until June – almost three months later – when the first significant story appeared in the national print media. The USA Today finally ran a front-page story in their 18^th June 1997 edition. To many, this was not a case of lack of interest but rather a quiet blackout in the print media. News stations are particularly sensationalist (at times). But print media coverage tends to lend credibility, particularly if in a reputable publication. Was this a case of a temporary ban until stories could be gotten straight and interest had died down?

Headlines such as the ones that were potentially at their disposal don’t come along that often. And it is highly unlikely that such a widespread encounter would have not appealed to at least one national publication. Remember also, there was also a resurgence of interest in popular culture in UFOs and aliens at the time. This was not lost on such editors.

Later Appearances

There were apparent repeats of the sightings in 2007 and 2008. Although neither incident attracted the attention of the 1997 event a decade previously.

The first took place on 6^th February 2007. A local FOX News television station managed to record brief footage of strange lights moving across the night sky. Once again both the US military and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) would dismiss the sightings. Declaring they were simply the result of military flares, used during a training exercise.

Then, on 21^st April 2008, several local residents would spot strange lights moving across the northern part of Phoenix. On this occasion, it would appear the lights were moving and changing position. They at first formed a straight vertical line, then morphed into a diamond shape, and even into a U-formation.

Local resident, Tony Toporek, was talking with his neighbors in his yard. It was at around 8 pm when he first noticed the lights. He rushed inside to grab his video camera in an attempt to capture the strange scene on video. Another witness would state that shortly after the lights appeared, three high-speed jets approached the formation heading towards the west. Incidentally, Luke Air Force Base would again deny that any military activity of any kind had taken place that evening.

The following day, a Phoenix newspaper claimed that a local resident had contacted them. They would claim they were responsible for the lights the previous evening. According to their account, he had released “helium balloons with flares attached”. The apparent “hoaxer” has never been identified making some suspicious of the claim by the newspaper. Might it be possible that a military source had them run the story?

Reverse Engineering? Or Alien Visitation?

So, what should we make of it all? It appears perfectly clear that flares were not responsible for the sightings that evening over Arizona or Nevada. Not even remotely. What does appear to be the case, though, is that some considerable activity most definitely occurred. The real question surely is whether that activity was of the terrestrial and clandestine nature? Or were the strange and mammoth crafts making their way over the south-west region of the United States of a more otherworldly and extraterrestrial source?

Or might it be a combination of the two? Perhaps the crafts were a clandestine operation. But one using back-engineered, reversed alien technology. Perhaps, given the conspiracies of underground facilities in the region, the crafts are part of a joint alien-US military operation? If so, why were they on this occasion so visible? And if it doesn’t share any kind of connection to the US military, just what was calmly traveling through skies of Nevada and Arizona that spring evening in 1997? And, perhaps more to the point, why?

Maybe there is a connection to the alleged crash in Arizona’s Paradise Valley and the conspiracies surrounding Dreamy Draw Dam (which some claim is a destination purposely built to cover over the crash site). Many believe authorities retrieved substantial portions of alien technology in the incident of October 1947. And what of the barrage of alleged crashes and “top secret facilities” thereof in Arizona? And the neighboring states of Nevada and New Mexico, and even some parts of California? Is it any wonder, then, given such history, that an incident like the Phoenix Lights occurred where it did? It would seem that the history, the location, and the event validate each other.

The Place Of The “Star Brothers”

So, given the long history of UFO activity in the regions what is it that is attracting these otherworldly crafts to this part of the world? Just under fifty years earlier the Roswell incident occurred in nearby New Mexico. Arizona also has numerous UFO conspiracies to its name. Might the Phoenix Lights have been just one of the more recent of many events? Only one that unfolded in front of a population armed with cameras and video devices. Maybe if this incident occurred in 1957, for example, the number of sightings wouldn’t be as high or as detailed.

We mentioned earlier about Sierra Estrella mountain range. According to the legends of the native tribes that have lived on the land for hundreds of years, this is the place where the “star brothers” would come and go from. Might this suggest that it is some kind of portal area? Many mountains have similar claims and legends. Such claims are easy to dismiss as outright mysticism. The increased UFO activity in the region in modern times, however, surely lends credibility to these legends. If only in part.

Might the craft, or crafts, witnessed in March 1997 have been cosmic travelers using such a portal? Might they be the same “star brothers” who have been visiting our planet seemingly for hundreds, even thousands of years? And why on that evening only, did they become so blatantly public for all to see? Did they achieve their mission? And are they mere visitors? Or might they have more of a connection to humanity than we think?

Check out the videos below. the first is our mini-documentary examining the Phoenix Lights, while the second is a documentary looking at the Phoenix Lights incident in more detail. A case that will ponder many people’s minds for years to come, no doubt. And very likely, one of the most important encounters in humanity’s history.