Phoenix Lights Phenomenon Still Baffles UFO Enthusiasts After Nearly 30 Years

'Phoenix Lights' — A Mystery

There are many reports of alleged UFO sightings all across the world, but very few stimulate the imagination of people like 'Phoenix Lights'. 'Phoenix Lights' is the collective term used for a group of alleged UFO sightings in Nevada, Arizona on March 13, 1997, KTAR reported. Thousands of people came out claiming they had witnessed the lights and that it was nothing like they had ever seen. The phenomenon reportedly lasted from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. and remains an intriguing discussion amongst UFO fans even today. 'Phoenix Lights' remains hotly debated amongst enthusiasts because it was one of the few times that the alleged sightings were backed up by so many testimonies and not just some grainy footage, The Sun reported.

V-Shaped Object in the Sky

The first reported event on March 13, 1997, was of a V-shaped object the size of a commercial plane flying through the sky. An individual from Prescott who preferred to be anonymous claimed he saw a mile-wide boomerang-shaped object glide over Granite Mountain. "We don’t have anything that big," the person said. "It was totally silent. I’ve never seen anything even close to the colors from the exhaust that propelled that thing. It was as big as downtown Prescott and completely blocked out the stars." Another event was reported by a former Arizona police officer who claimed to have seen a group of stationary, orange, and red lights hanging over the Valley.

"Bigger Than Anything That I’ve Ever Seen"

Arizona Governor, Fife Symington, initially did not pay any heed to the extraterrestrial concerns brought by people, KTAR reported. "This just goes to show that you guys are entirely too serious," Symington said in a press conference regarding the sightings. Later on, though he validated the concerns stating he saw the lights himself and as per his experience they couldn't be of human origin. "I’m a pilot, and I know just about every machine that flies," Symington said. "It was bigger than anything that I’ve ever seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it, responsible people. I don’t know why people would ridicule it."

Even Kurt Russell Saw the 'Phoenix Lights'

Kurt Russell, a famous Hollywood actor, came forward and stated that he witnessed one of the events in the 'Phoenix Lights,' The Sun reported. He saw the V-shaped event when he was flying with his son. "I was flying [my son] to go see his girlfriend, and we’re on approach, and I saw six lights over the airport — absolutely uniform — in a V-shape," he said. He found the sighting to be peculiar and immediately reported it to the air control. The actor believes he was one of the first pilots to bring the phenomenon to authority's attention. 

Government Says It Was Flares

The U.S. Military later clarified that one of the so-called 'events' which involved the orange and red lights were flares dropped by military aircraft during a training exercise at the Barry Goldwater Range, KTAR reported. To this date, no official explanation has been put forward regarding the other events by authorities. UFO conspiracy theorists as well as the public for long have denied these explanations regarding the phenomenon put forward by the military, The Sun reported. "I wish the government would just admit it. You know what it's like in this city right now? It's like having 50,000 people in a stadium watching a football game and then having someone tell us we weren't there." shared Truck driver Bill Greiner who saw one of the incidents. The populace has wanted more investigations on the sightings from independent bodies. U.S. lawmakers have recently commissioned an inquiry into UFO sightings after leaked videos featuring military interactions with alleged extraterrestrial objects surfaced on social media.