# The Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997 > On the evening of 13 March 1997 thousands of people in Arizona saw two things: a V-shaped formation of lights that crossed the state from north to south… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:48:02+00:00 --- **MYS** 0CQPVXHW4RNF·Mystery · sighting # The Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997 **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=phoenix-lights) The Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997 When 13 March 1997, about 7:30 to 10:30 pm MST⁠[[1]] Where A corridor of about 300 miles from Henderson, Nevada, through Prescott and Phoenix to Tucson⁠[[1]] The 10 pm lights Flares from eight Maryland ANG A-10s over the Goldwater range, about 60 miles south-west of Phoenix⁠[[4]] The 8 pm formation Seen through a telescope as separate aircraft; never officially identified⁠[[3]] Governor Fife Symington mocked the reports in June 1997 and said in March 2007 that he had seen the formation himself⁠[[5]] Status Partly explained Questions 1 of 3 answered People [**Fife Symington** Governor of Arizona 1991 to 1997; witness from 2007](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/people/FIG0CQPVZGC6H1J/fife-symington)[**Mitch Stanley** Amateur astronomer who saw the formation through a telescope](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/people/FIG0CQPVZ8J5GSA/mitch-stanley)[**Frances Barwood** Phoenix city councilwoman who asked for an investigation](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/people/FIG0CQPVZR62RH8/frances-barwood)[**Tim Ley** Witness, Prescott Valley and Phoenix; drew the carpenter's-square shape](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/people/FIG0CQPVZ0R10S7/tim-ley)[**Drew Sullins** Captain, Maryland ANG spokesman](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/people/FIG0CQPW07T117P/drew-sullins) All 6 people › [**Mike Krzyston** Filmed the 10 pm lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/people/FIG0CQPW0002Q9G/mike-krzyston) Catalog key**MYS** 0CQPVXHW4RNF The Phoenix Lights are two events on one evening that have been joined in memory into one. Between about 8:00 and 8:45 pm on Thursday 13 March 1997 a formation of lights, usually described as a V or a boomerang, passed from the Prescott area south over the Phoenix metropolitan area toward Tucson; witnesses along a corridor of roughly 300 miles reported it⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. At about 10:00 pm a separate row of brilliant lights appeared low in the south-west over the Sierra Estrella mountains, hung for several minutes, and went out one by one; this is what the surviving videos show⁠[[3]]. The second event has an official explanation. On 25 July 1997 Captain Drew Sullins of the Maryland Air National Guard said that eight of the unit's A-10 ground-attack aircraft, in Arizona for winter training under Operation Snowbird, had dropped high-intensity flares from 15,000 feet over the Barry M. Goldwater range about 60 miles south-west of Phoenix that night, and had jettisoned the rest before returning to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base⁠[[4]]. Arizona National Guard records placed the drop at 10:00 pm over the North Tac range, and the lights' "disappearance" matches them sinking behind the Estrellas⁠[[3]]. Video of a later flare drop filmed by a local station looked, in a reporter's words, remarkably like the 10 pm lights⁠[[3]]. The first event has a probable but unproven explanation. Mitch Stanley, an amateur astronomer in Scottsdale, watched the formation through a Dobsonian telescope and saw each light resolve into pairs of lights on squarish wings, which he took to be aircraft at high altitude⁠[[3]]. Luke Air Force Base radar operators reported nothing unusual, and FAA radar records were not requested before their routine deletion⁠[[3]]. Against this, several witnesses, including a retired airline pilot and a psychiatrist, described a single enormous silent object passing low overhead⁠[[1]], and Governor Fife Symington, who had held a mocking press conference in June 1997, said ten years later that he had seen it too and that it was "enormous" and "otherworldly"⁠[[5]]. Of the 3 questions on this site, 1 are answered. The most likely answer to “What was the V-shaped formation seen between 8:00 and 8:45 pm?”, not yet confirmed: a formation of five or more conventional aircraft at high altitude, probably military, in a V. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Were the 10 pm lights flares?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW44T0W52/were-the-10-pm-lights-flares)Answered: lUU-2 illumination flares dropped by Maryland ANG A-10s over the North Tac range at 10 pm. [**What was the V-shaped formation seen between 8:00 and 8:45 pm?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW3X03QC0/what-was-the-v-shaped-formation-seen-between-8-00-and-8-45)Most likely: a formation of five or more conventional aircraft at high altitude, probably military, in a V [All 3 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=phoenix-lights) ## What happened The first report came at about 7:55 pm from Henderson, Nevada, of a V-shaped object moving south-east⁠[[2]]. At about 8:15 pm a former police officer in Paulden, north of Prescott, saw a cluster of reddish-orange lights disappearing over the southern horizon; shortly afterwards the Ley family in Prescott Valley saw five lights in an arc about 65 miles away, which formed an inverted V and then a shape like a carpenter's square as it approached⁠[[2]]. Between 8:30 and 8:45 pm witnesses in Glendale and across Phoenix saw the formation pass overhead, partly obscured by thin cloud; by about 8:45 pm, according to the sceptic Robert Sheaffer, the A-10 formation had landed at Davis-Monthan⁠[[2]]. At about 10:00 pm a row of lights appeared over the south-west horizon. Many people filmed it; the best-known video is Mike Krzyston's from his home in the Moon Valley area of north Phoenix⁠[[6]]. The lights hung, drifted slightly, and winked out from one end. This is the footage shown in nearly every later account of the Phoenix Lights, though it is the second event, not the formation. The story stayed local until June 1997, when national coverage and a USA Today report brought it to the country's attention, three months after the fact⁠[[2]]. On 19 June Governor Symington called a press conference, announced that the culprit had been found, and produced his chief of staff Jay Heiler in an alien costume, telling reporters they were "entirely too serious"⁠[[5]]. City councilwoman Frances Barwood had asked the Air Force to investigate⁠[[4]]. A month later the Maryland Guard's statement explained the 10 pm lights⁠[[4]]. **Map of the region** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/map) [+][−] 1 **Phoenix, Arizona** City Mapped 2 **Moon Valley, north Phoenix** Neighbourhood Within 10 km 3 **Luke Air Force Base, Glendale, Arizona** Air base Within 1 km 4 **Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range (North Tac)** Military range A region 5 **Prescott Valley, Arizona** Town Mapped 6 **Paulden, Arizona** Town Within 1 km 7 **Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson** Air base Mapped 8 **Henderson, Nevada** City Mapped MappedWithin 1 kmA regionNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## The accounts The accounts divide by event and by date of recording. For the 10 pm lights, the videos are the record; the witnesses' descriptions (lights hovering, then dropping out) match them. For the formation, the earliest accounts were gathered by local reporters in March 1997 and by the National UFO Reporting Center, whose director logged calls that night⁠[[7]]. Steve Wilson of the Arizona Republic, writing a year later, recorded Dr Bradley Evans of Tucson seeing a diamond-shaped formation pass at an estimated 1,500 feet without sound; Trig Johnston, a retired airline pilot, estimating an object the size of 25 airliners at about 100 knots and 5,000 feet; and Max Saracen describing a huge silent triangle overhead⁠[[1]]. Tim Ley's account, with his drawing of a carpenter's-square shape with lights along the arms, became the canonical image after it was published nationally in June 1997⁠[[2]]. Mitch Stanley's telescope observation was made the same night and reported to local journalists within weeks; he said he followed the lights for about a minute and that "they were planes, there's no way I could have mistaken that"⁠[[3]]. His account is the only one made with magnification. Symington's account is the one that changed most. In 1997 he staged the alien-costume press conference. In March 2007, to a UFO investigator, to the Arizona Daily Star and to CNN, he said that he had watched the formation himself from near Squaw Peak, that it was "bigger than anything that I've ever seen", and that he had kept quiet to avoid public panic and because of the fraud charges he was then facing⁠[[5]]. He has repeated the account since. It was first recorded ten years after the event. A pattern runs through the formation accounts: the earlier the record, the more it reads as lights in formation; the later, the more it reads as a single craft with a dark body between the lights. Timothy Callahan and Donald Prothero argue this is what the psychology of perception and memory predicts for lights against a dark sky⁠[[8]]; believers argue the lights were on one object from the start. ## What was recorded No radar data survives. Luke Air Force Base reported nothing unusual on its radar, and the FAA's recordings were overwritten on their routine schedule before anyone asked for them⁠[[3]]. The Black Vault's FOIA requests produced a Luke AFB response that it had no records of the flare drop and a one-page response from Davis-Monthan in 2013 saying any records had been destroyed⁠[[9]]. [![First page of Luke Air Force Base reply to a FOIA request about the lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/6a6b5a65b18a02ec9bfaa6bba888bbe7920f76751e370f6fb5c573632ea3b26d/p1)3 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWE5473PJ/luke-air-force-base-reply-to-a-foia-request-about-the-lights) Luke Air Force Base reply to a FOIA request about the lightsThe Black Vault (John Greenewald), 1997. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWE5473PJ/luke-air-force-base-reply-to-a-foia-request-about-the-lights) [![First page of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base reply to a FOIA request about the flare drop](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/4dd000e3f9c64c85799a57b99f46a3b4bf35feb37199db89a1945939cec6c288/p1)2 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWEMR4X2W/davis-monthan-air-force-base-reply-to-a-foia-request-about) Davis-Monthan Air Force Base reply to a FOIA request about the flare dropU.S. Air Force, 2013. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWEMR4X2W/davis-monthan-air-force-base-reply-to-a-foia-request-about) The videos all show the 10 pm event. Tony Ortega's 1998 analysis for the Phoenix New Times, with a comparison to a filmed flare drop and a frame analysis showing the lights moving together but independently, is the fullest published examination⁠[[10]]. The Maryland Guard's statement is the official account of the flares⁠[[4]]. For the formation there is no photograph or video that unambiguously shows it; the still images in circulation are of the 10 pm lights. The National UFO Reporting Center's database holds the civilian reports for that night, filed from the evening of 13 March onward⁠[[7]]. ## The explanations For the 10 pm lights, the flare explanation is accepted by the Air National Guard, the Arizona National Guard, journalists who filmed comparison drops, and sceptical analysts⁠[[4]]⁠[[3]]⁠[[11]]. Its predictions hold: the timing, the azimuth over the Goldwater range, the slow descent, the lights going out in sequence, the parallax across different filming positions. Frances Barwood called it "too convenient" and asked for a re-enactment⁠[[4]]; no stronger objection has been raised. For the formation, the aircraft explanation rests on Stanley's observation and on the fit between a V of five aircraft at altitude and the reported track⁠[[3]]⁠[[12]]. Its weakness is that no unit has ever said it flew that formation; the Maryland Guard's A-10s are the usual candidate, since they were airborne that evening and landed at Davis-Monthan at about the right time, but their flight that night was for range work, and the Guard has not confirmed a northern transit⁠[[2]]. The single silent craft explanation rests on the witnesses' estimates of size and altitude, which cannot be checked; lights at unknown distance against a dark sky give no scale⁠[[8]]. A third possibility, a classified aircraft or a formation from another base, would explain the official silence but has no evidence. The copycat events show how much the lights depend on their explanation: flares from Luke AFB F-16s in February 2007 and road flares tied to helium balloons in April 2008 both produced reports of hovering lights and both were explained within days⁠[[2]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1997 | Maryland Air National Guard (Captain Drew Sullins)⁠[4] | The 10 pm lights were illumination flares dropped by the Guard's A-10s over the Barry M. Goldwater range. | Accepted | The timing, bearing, slow descent and sequence of the lights match flares, and filmed comparison drops reproduced them⁠[3]⁠[11] | | 1997 | Frances Barwood⁠[4] | The flare explanation is too convenient, and the lights need an official investigation and a re-enactment. | Disputed | No stronger objection to the flares has been published, and the analyses since all accept them⁠[3]⁠[11] | | 1998 | Steve Wilson (Arizona Republic)⁠[1] | The witnesses are credible and hard to dismiss, and a military operation is the most likely explanation. | Still possible | No unit has acknowledged flying the formation, and the base records that might show one were destroyed⁠[13]⁠[14] | | 2004 | Lynne Kitei⁠[15] | The lights she filmed in 1995 and 1997 and the mile-long V seen on 13 March 1997 were not conventional aircraft or flares. | Disputed | Sceptical analyses attribute the V to aircraft seen as separate lights through a telescope and the later lights to flares⁠[3]⁠[12] | | 2007 | Fife Symington⁠[5] | As governor he saw the formation himself, and it was something he could not explain. | Disputed | His account came ten years after the event, and the published analyses attribute the formation to aircraft⁠[3]⁠[12] | | 2014 | Phoenix New Times⁠[3] | Both events are explained: the formation was aircraft, seen as such through Mitch Stanley's telescope, and the 10 pm lights were flares. | Accepted | Later sceptical analyses agree, though no unit has confirmed flying the formation⁠[12]⁠[11] | | 2015 | James McGaha and Joe Nickell⁠[11] | The formation was five Maryland Guard A-10s whose separate lights witnesses joined into one object, and the 10 pm lights were their flares. | Most likely | It matches Stanley's telescope sighting and the Guard's statement, but the Guard has not confirmed a northern transit by the A-10s⁠[3]⁠[2] | | 2016 | Robert Sheaffer⁠[12] | The formation and the 10 pm lights were separate events, the first a flight of A-10s returning to Tucson in formation and the second a flare drop. | Most likely | Separate aircraft fit the only known video of the formation, in which the lights move relative to each other, but no unit has confirmed which aircraft flew it⁠[12]⁠[2] | | 2017 | Donald Prothero and Timothy Callahan⁠[8] | Lights at unknown distance against a dark sky are seen as one object, which explains the single-craft accounts. | Most likely | It fits the telescope sighting of separate aircraft, but the perceptual account has not been tested against the witness reports⁠[3] | ## What would settle it A unit record. The Maryland Air National Guard's flight records and the Davis-Monthan tower log for 13 March 1997 would show whether an A-10 formation transited from the north between 8:00 and 8:45 pm; a positive answer settles the formation, and a negative one points to another unit. The FAA data is gone. A photograph of the formation with a known foreground and timestamp would allow a parallax estimate of altitude, which decides between a low silent object and high aircraft. None of the thousands of witnesses has produced one. ## Questions 1 of 3 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 3](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=phoenix-lights) **0** [Were the 10 pm lights flares?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW44T0W52/were-the-10-pm-lights-flares) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Answered: LUU-2 illumination flares dropped by Maryland ANG A-10s over the North Tac range at 10 pm. **0** [What was the V-shaped formation seen between 8:00 and 8:45 pm?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW3X03QC0/what-was-the-v-shaped-formation-seen-between-8-00-and-8-45) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: a formation of five or more conventional aircraft at high altitude, probably military, in a V ## Evidence 15 findings [What was the V-shaped formation seen between 8:00 and 8:45 pm?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW3X03QC0/what-was-the-v-shaped-formation-seen-between-8-00-and-8-45)7 findings [A formation of five or more conventional aircraft at high altitude, probably military, in a V.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/answers/ANS0CQPW4ME2VES/a-formation-of-five-or-more-conventional-aircraft-at-high)Most likely +[Stanley saw the lights resolve into pairs on squarish wings through a telescope and judged them planes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW4W838AF/stanley-saw-the-lights-resolve-into-pairs-on-squarish-wings)Supported +[The Maryland ANG A-10s were airborne that evening and landed at Davis-Monthan at about 8:45 pm.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW5421K64/the-maryland-ang-a-10s-were-airborne-that-evening-and-landed)Suggestive −[No unit has confirmed flying the formation, and Luke AFB radar operators reported nothing unusual.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW5BW554V/no-unit-has-confirmed-flying-the-formation-and-luke-afb)Suggestive [A single large silent object with lights along its leading edges, flying low.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/answers/ANS0CQPW5KP3VX6/a-single-large-silent-object-with-lights-along-its-leading)Disputed +[Several witnesses, including a retired airline pilot and the then governor, describe a single enormous silent craft at low altitude.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW5VG5WV8/several-witnesses-including-a-retired-airline-pilot-and-the)Suggestive −[Size and altitude estimates of lights against a dark sky have no reference and are unreliable.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW63A2NWB/size-and-altitude-estimates-of-lights-against-a-dark-sky)Supported −[Stanley's magnified view showed separate aircraft.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW6B437M8/stanleys-magnified-view-showed-separate-aircraft)Supported [A classified aircraft or test formation whose unit will not acknowledge the flight.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/answers/ANS0CQPW6JY7TYQ/a-classified-aircraft-or-test-formation-whose-unit-will-not)Still possible +[The official silence on the formation is consistent with this but also with a routine transit nobody recorded as notable.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW6TR6ACQ/the-official-silence-on-the-formation-is-consistent-with)Speculative [Were the 10 pm lights flares?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW44T0W52/were-the-10-pm-lights-flares)5 findings [LUU-2 illumination flares dropped by Maryland ANG A-10s over the North Tac range at 10 pm.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/answers/ANS0CQPW7AC3PRJ/luu-2-illumination-flares-dropped-by-maryland-ang-a-10s-over)Most likely +[The Guard's spokesman and the Arizona Guard's records place a flare drop at 10 pm over the range about 60 miles south-west.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW7J618QT/the-guards-spokesman-and-the-arizona-guards-records-place-a)Established +[A comparison flare drop filmed by a local station looked the same, and frame analysis shows the lights moving independently.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW7T061FC/a-comparison-flare-drop-filmed-by-a-local-station-looked-the)Supported +[Lt Col Ed Jones confirmed in 2007 that he flew in the flare-dropping formation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW81T1QQ4/lt-col-ed-jones-confirmed-in-2007-that-he-flew-in-the-flare)Supported −[Barwood called the explanation too convenient and noted it does not cover sightings 200 miles away; those sightings belong to the earlier event.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW89M6AFK/barwood-called-the-explanation-too-convenient-and-noted-it)Speculative [Lights of another kind hovering over the city, as advocates maintain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/answers/ANS0CQPW8HE1NE3/lights-of-another-kind-hovering-over-the-city-as-advocates)Disputed −[Tony Ortega's 1998 analysis and later sceptical reviews find the videos consistent with flares at the range.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW8S80SQV/tony-ortegas-1998-analysis-and-later-sceptical-reviews-find)Supported [Why do the formation accounts differ so much?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW4CM79XB/why-do-the-formation-accounts-differ-so-much)3 findings [Lights in formation against a dark sky are perceived as one object, and memory consolidates the perception…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/answers/ANS0CQPW98W1QZ3/lights-in-formation-against-a-dark-sky-are-perceived-as-one)Most likely +[Symington's account, the most detailed single-craft description, was first recorded ten years after the event.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW9GP0K0H/symingtons-account-the-most-detailed-single-craft)Supported −[The 1998 accounts already include single-craft descriptions from a pilot and a physician.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW9RG0DXC/the-1998-accounts-already-include-single-craft-descriptions)Suggestive [Witnesses saw two different things on the northern track, aircraft and something else.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/answers/ANS0CQPWA0A1JKS/witnesses-saw-two-different-things-on-the-northern-track)Disputed −[The reported times and track are consistent with a single passage from Prescott to Tucson.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPWA842FAC/the-reported-times-and-track-are-consistent-with-a-single)Suggestive ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 8](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts) Video2 steps from object [Mike Krzyston's video of the 10 pm lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWB7C2490/mike-krzystons-video-of-the-10-pm-lights) KGUN 9 · publisher Scan2 steps from object [Tim Ley's drawing of the formation](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWBQ06APK/tim-leys-drawing-of-the-formation) unknown · unknown Document2 steps from object [Maryland Air National Guard statement on the flare drop](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWDNG6CBN/maryland-air-national-guard-statement-on-the-flare-drop) Associated Press · publisher Photo1 step from object [Luke Air Force Base reply to a FOIA request about the lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWE5473PJ/luke-air-force-base-reply-to-a-foia-request-about-the-lights) U.S. Air Force · Public domain (US government work) Photo1 step from object [Davis-Monthan Air Force Base reply to a FOIA request about the flare drop](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWEMR4X2W/davis-monthan-air-force-base-reply-to-a-foia-request-about) U.S. Air Force · Public domain (US government work) Dataset1 step from object [Civilian reports of 13 March 1997 in the NUFORC databank](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts/ART0CQPWF4C44ND/civilian-reports-of-13-march-1997-in-the-nuforc-databank) National UFO Reporting Center · publisher [See all 8 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/artifacts) ## See also [ **2004 Nimitz encounter and the Navy videos** A 2004 report by US Navy aircrew of a white, wingless object off Baja California. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/nimitz-encounter) [ **Marfa lights** Lights seen at night over Mitchell Flat, east of Marfa in west Texas, reported since at least 1945. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights) [ **Rendlesham Forest, December 1980** Lights reported by US airmen in a Suffolk forest near RAF Woodbridge in 1980. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/rendlesham-forest) [ **Hessdalen lights** Lights reported near the ground in a valley in central Norway since 1981. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/hessdalen-lights) ## References 1. 1.[Wilson, S. 1998. 'Phoenix Lights' witnesses credible, hard to dismiss. The Arizona Republic.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVVKC7R3K/phoenix-lights-witnesses-credible-hard-to-dismiss)cited 7 times here**SRC** 0CQPVVKC7R3K 1. 2.[Wikipedia contributors 2026. Phoenix Lights. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVVV64VHE/phoenix-lights)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0CQPVVV64VHE 1. 3.[Phoenix New Times (Valley Fever) 2014. The 1997 "Phoenix Lights" Are No Mystery. Phoenix New Times.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVV3R3YTK/the-1997-phoenix-lights-are-no-mystery)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0CQPVV3R3YTK 1. 4.[Associated Press 1997. Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says. Deseret News (Associated Press).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVTM43EZF/flares-not-ufos-caused-light-show-military-says)cited 12 times here**SRC** 0CQPVTM43EZF 1. 5.[Associated Press 2007. Former governor says he saw UFO. Deseret News (Associated Press).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVTVY4XAY/former-governor-says-he-saw-ufo)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0CQPVTVY4XAY 1. 6.[KGUN 9 2022. Man behind famous Phoenix Lights footage still mystified 25 years later. KGUN 9 (Tucson).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVWTE5H0W/man-behind-famous-phoenix-lights-footage-still-mystified-25)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CQPVWTE5H0W 1. 7.[National UFO Reporting Center n.d.. NUFORC Databank. nuforc.org.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D1SBGVA112T/nuforc-databank)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-29719-0_468)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D1SBGVA112T 1. 8.[Prothero, D., Callahan, T. 2017. UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says. Indiana University Press.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVW301EKA/ufos-chemtrails-and-aliens-what-science-says)[doi](https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt2005r2h)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CQPVW301EKA 1. 9.[Greenewald, J. 2013. 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