# Phoenix New Times (Valley Fever) 2014: The 1997 "Phoenix Lights" Are No Mystery

> Phoenix New Times (Valley Fever), 2014. 11 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The sceptical account of both events and Stanley's quotation.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVV3R3YTK/the-1997-phoenix-lights-are-no-mystery  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights)Phoenix New Times (Valley Fever) 2014

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# The 1997 "Phoenix Lights" Are No Mystery

Phoenix New Times (Valley Fever), 2014. _Phoenix New Times_.

A summary of the paper's reporting: Mitch Stanley's telescope observation, the Arizona National Guard's determination that flares were dropped at 10 pm over the North Tac range, the comparison flare drop filmed by a local station, the absence of unusual radar at Luke, and the FAA records' deletion.

**Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997** ArticleChecked against the original0

## What it's used for here

The sceptical account of both events and Stanley's quotation.

## Cited by on this site 11 records

[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)

Answer

ANS

[A comparison flare drop filmed by a local station looked the same, and frame analysis shows the lights moving…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW7T061FC/a-comparison-flare-drop-filmed-by-a-local-station-looked-the)

Evidence

EVD

[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)

Evidence

EVD

[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)

Evidence

EVD

[Stanley's magnified view showed separate aircraft.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW6B437M8/stanleys-magnified-view-showed-separate-aircraft)

Evidence

EVD

[The official silence on the formation is consistent with this but also with a routine transit nobody recorded…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/evidence/EVD0CQPW6TR6ACQ/the-official-silence-on-the-formation-is-consistent-with)

Evidence

EVD

[Mitch Stanley](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/people/FIG0CQPVZ8J5GSA/mitch-stanley)

FIG

[The Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights)

The mystery article

MYS

[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)

Question

QST

[Why do the formation accounts differ so much?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/questions/QST0CQPW4CM79XB/why-do-the-formation-accounts-differ-so-much)

Question

QST

[Mitch Stanley: Watched the formation through a Dobsonian telescope from Scottsdale…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/phoenix-lights/accounts/WIT0CQPW2NY2GVW/mitch-stanley-watched-the-formation-through-a-dobsonian)

WIT

## Cite it

```
Phoenix New Times (Valley Fever) (2014). The 1997 "Phoenix Lights" Are No Mystery. Phoenix New Times. https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts-culture/the-phoenix-lights-are-no-mystery-6661825/
```

[Read it free at phoenixnewtimes.com](https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts-culture/the-phoenix-lights-are-no-mystery-6661825/)

Key

**SRC** 0CQPVV3R3YTK

Kind

Journal article

Rights

The publisher's

Kept

29 Oct 2026, for editors

Checked

Against the published article

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS.

[CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQPVV3R3YTK/the-1997-phoenix-lights-are-no-mystery/csl.json)
