Within IFOs
Why Flares Look Like Hovering Craft
Illumination flares can hang, drift, brighten and fade in ways that resemble structured aerial objects at night.
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- Flare burn and descent
- Training ranges and timing
- How flares fade from view
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Introduction
Illumination flares and military training lights are one of the most convincing night-time causes of UFO reports because they can look motionless, organised and unusually bright even while they are simply burning under parachutes or being released during exercises. A single flare can appear to “hover”; several dropped in sequence can seem to form a line, triangle or structured craft; and as they fall behind hills, cloud or haze they can appear to wink out one by one. The key is context: these lights are often real, bright, visible to many witnesses and captured on video, but their apparent behaviour can be misleading without range, wind, timing and training-area information.
This makes flares a useful IFO category, not a dismissive one. They explain why sincere observers may report hovering craft, silent formations or lights that brighten and fade, while later evidence points to military or rescue-training activity. The best-known examples, including parts of the Phoenix Lights and repeated San Diego sightings, show how ordinary training lights can become memorable UFO events when seen from a city at night. [Deseret News]deseret.comNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret NewsNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret News [ABC News]abcnews.comABC News Strange lights off San Diego coast have locals taking to social mediaABC News Strange lights off San Diego coast have locals taking to social media
Why a falling flare can look like a hovering craft
A military illumination flare is designed to do the opposite of what a normal aircraft light does. It is meant to hang in the sky long enough to light a target area below. Large aircraft parachute flares such as the LUU-2 are ejected from an aircraft or dispenser, ignite a magnesium candle, deploy under a parachute and produce an intense white light; technical descriptions give the LUU-2B a light output of about 1.8 million candlepower and a burn time of roughly five minutes while suspended under its parachute. [GlobalSecurity]globalsecurity.orgGlobal Security LUU-2 FlareGlobal Security LUU-2 Flare
That slow, suspended burn is exactly what can fool the eye. At night, an observer may have no reliable sense of distance. A bright light ten or twenty miles away can look like a smaller object much closer. If the flare is descending slowly, the motion may be too subtle to notice, especially when the viewer is looking toward a dark horizon without visible landmarks. Wind drift can add sideways movement, and a sequence of releases can create the impression of lights maintaining formation.
Flares also do not behave like steady lamps. The LUU-2 page at GlobalSecurity notes that the magnesium candle gives a bright white light, that the burning aluminium case can add an orange tint, and that flare brightness can fluctuate because the burn is uneven. That helps explain reports of orange, reddish, pulsing or shimmering lights that seem to brighten and fade rather than blink like normal aircraft navigation lights. [GlobalSecurity]globalsecurity.orgGlobal Security LUU-2 FlareGlobal Security LUU-2 Flare
The final seconds can be especially deceptive. When a flare burns out, the light does not have to “fly away”; it can simply disappear. If several flares are falling behind a mountain ridge or marine cloud layer, they may vanish one after another, giving the impression that a row of lights is turning off in sequence on the underside of a large object. This is why witness descriptions such as “hovered, then faded out” are compatible with flares, provided the timing, direction and local training activity also fit.
Training ranges and timing are the strongest clues
The most useful question is not only “does it look like a flare?” but “was there a plausible flare source at that place and time?” Military flare sightings cluster near training areas, coastlines, bombing ranges and air weapons ranges because those are the places where aircraft and ground forces practise night operations. The UK Ministry of Defence, for example, publishes information on low-flying military exercises and air weapons range activity; it lists air weapons ranges used for low-flying military aircraft and air-to-ground bombing, and separately publishes firing notices for military ranges. [GOV.UK]GOV.UKLow flying military aircraftLow flying military aircraft [GOV.UK]GOV.UKMilitary low flying: MOD sponsored air exercisesMilitary low flying: MOD sponsored air exercises
That matters for UFO investigation because military exercise schedules can turn a vague report into a testable claim. A line of lights seen over open water near a naval air station is not the same evidential situation as the same lights seen over a city with no relevant airspace, range or training notice nearby. The former has a built-in conventional hypothesis; the latter may require broader checking.
Modern UAP reporting also shows why training areas produce both real observations and confusing interpretations. The 2021 U.S. intelligence community preliminary assessment said UAP observations tended to cluster around U.S. training and testing grounds, while warning that this may reflect collection bias: more sensors, more trained observers, expectations to report anomalies and concentrated military activity in those areas. [ODNI]dni.govSource details in endnotes.
For flares specifically, the pattern is familiar:
- Near coastlines: naval or marine training can put bright lights offshore, where there are few distance cues.
- Near bombing or gunnery ranges: aircraft may drop illumination over target areas far from the city but still visible from it.
- During night exercises: darkness makes the flare useful to the military and confusing to nearby observers.
- At the end of sorties: remaining flares may be released or expended, sometimes producing a brief but dramatic display.
A careful identification therefore needs time, compass direction, elevation, wind direction aloft, local terrain, range schedules, NOTAMs or aviation notices where available, and any official confirmation from the units or agencies involved. Without those checks, “flares” can become a lazy label; with them, it can be a strong explanation.
The Phoenix Lights show both the strength and limits of the flare explanation
The Phoenix Lights of 13 March 1997 remain one of the clearest examples of why flare explanations are both useful and contested. The event is often discussed as a single mass sighting, but investigators commonly separate it into more than one episode: earlier reports of a moving V-shaped formation across Arizona, and later reports of bright lights over the Phoenix area. The later light display is the part most strongly associated with military flares.
In July 1997, military officials said visiting Maryland Air National Guard A-10 jets had been flying training missions over the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, about 60 miles southwest of Phoenix. According to Associated Press reporting at the time, the aircraft were using high-intensity flares dropped from 15,000 feet to illuminate the target area, and the flares fell slowly by parachute while lighting a wide area. The same report noted that aircraft dumped remaining flares at high altitude before returning to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. [Deseret News]deseret.comNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret NewsNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret News
That explanation fits several features of the later Phoenix reports: brilliant lights, slow apparent motion, a location consistent with a military range, and lights that seemed to hang and then disappear. It also fits the way parachute flares can produce a row of separated points rather than the outline of a physical craft. Technical flare characteristics make this plausible: a multi-minute burn, intense light output and slow descent are precisely the ingredients needed for a display visible over a large area. [GlobalSecurity]globalsecurity.orgGlobal Security LUU-2 FlareGlobal Security LUU-2 Flare
The limits are equally important. The same 1997 Associated Press account noted that the flare explanation did not necessarily explain reports from north-western Arizona up to 200 miles away, and some witnesses and local officials remained unconvinced. [Deseret News]deseret.comNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret NewsNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret News That does not make the flare explanation weak for the later Phoenix light display; it shows why investigators should avoid collapsing every witness statement into one event. A flare can explain one phase of a famous UFO case while other reports from the same night need separate treatment.
San Diego shows how flares become social-media UFOs
San Diego provides a modern, repeatable version of the same problem. In August 2018, residents across San Diego County reported strange lights in the western sky between about 8 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. A local ABC affiliate reported calls from Blossom Valley, La Jolla, Del Mar, Chula Vista and El Cajon, with viewer photographs showing yellow lights floating together. Naval Air Station North Island confirmed that the lights were flares used during training exercises. [ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV]10news.comABC 10 News San Diego KGTVNavy: Mystery lights were from training exerciseABC 10 News San Diego KGTVNavy: Mystery lights were from training exercise
The same event was reported by Times of San Diego as a Navy training mission off the coast of Imperial Beach, with a Navy spokeswoman confirming that the exercise was taking place about 30 miles off the San Diego coast. The lights were visible as far away as La Mesa, and the drills were expected to continue the following evening. [Times of San Diego]timesofsandiego.comSource details in endnotes.
A similar pattern appeared in June 2022, when orange lights off the San Diego coast triggered social-media speculation about UFOs, drones and other possibilities. ABC News reported that the San Diego Police Department said the lights were flares being used for military exercises, and that military officials had confirmed this to police even though nearby installations initially did not provide a simple public answer. Witness video descriptions included “floating”, “very still”, “very bright” lights in changing patterns of two to six. [ABC News]abcnews.comABC News Strange lights off San Diego coast have locals taking to social mediaABC News Strange lights off San Diego coast have locals taking to social media
These cases matter because they show how quickly flare sightings now spread. A witness posts a short video of bright, stationary-looking lights; others across a large area confirm they saw the same thing; the lack of immediate official clarity leaves room for speculation; and by the time confirmation arrives, the UFO interpretation may already be circulating. Flares are therefore not only an optical problem but an information-timing problem.
How flares fade from view
The fading behaviour of flares is one of the main reasons they are mistaken for structured craft. A light that simply goes out can feel stranger than one that visibly flies away. In a flare event, several ordinary processes can create this effect.
First, the pyrotechnic candle burns out. The LUU-2 description notes that after candle burnout an explosive bolt releases a parachute support cable, causing the parachute to collapse; Navy training material similarly describes the flare candle approaching the end of its burn, the heat activating an explosive bolt and the parachute collapsing as the flare falls. [GlobalSecurity]globalsecurity.orgGlobal Security LUU-2 FlareGlobal Security LUU-2 Flare From the ground, the visible result may be a sudden disappearance rather than a visible descent.
Second, terrain can hide the lower part of the fall. If a flare is over a range beyond a ridge, it may remain visible while high enough, then vanish as it drops behind the horizon line. At night, the ridge itself may be invisible, so the disappearance seems to happen in open sky. This is often more persuasive to a witness than a normal aircraft explanation because aircraft lights usually move, blink or continue along a track.
Third, haze and cloud can create partial fading. Marine layers, thin cloud and smoke can dim a flare before it burns out. A light may appear to pulse, redden, split into a fuzzy glow, or fade slowly enough to look controlled. When several flares are present at different distances or heights, the fading sequence can look like a large object banking, rotating or shutting down lights.
A useful field test is to compare the disappearance direction with the likely horizon. If each light vanishes at roughly the same low elevation, especially near the direction of a known range or offshore exercise area, flares become more plausible. If the lights cross in front of stars, occlude background objects, accelerate sharply or maintain a rigid geometry while translating across a large part of the sky, the flare explanation needs stronger supporting evidence.
What flare reports usually get right and wrong
Witnesses often get the core observation right: there really were bright lights in the sky. The mistake usually lies in scale, distance and structure. A row of independent flares can be interpreted as one craft because the human visual system naturally groups separated lights into patterns. At night, if the dark body between the lights is not visible, the brain may still infer one.
The most common accurate elements are:
- Brightness: military illumination flares are designed to be extremely bright.
- Colour: white, yellow, orange or reddish appearances are plausible depending on burn chemistry, distance and atmosphere.
- Apparent hovering: a parachute flare can descend slowly enough to appear stationary.
- Fading: flare burnout or horizon masking can make lights disappear without flying away.
- Multiple witnesses: a bright flare display can be seen across a wide urban area.
The most common mistaken inferences are:
- Size: a distant flare can be judged as a nearby object.
- Speed: slow descent or wind drift can be misread as deliberate motion.
- Formation: separately dropped flares can look like fixed lights on a craft.
- Altitude: without range data, an object over a training area may appear to be above a neighbourhood.
- Silence: a distant aircraft or offshore exercise may produce little or no audible sound.
None of this means every orange light is a flare. It means flare identification should be tested against concrete clues. The strongest cases have official exercise confirmation, matching time and direction, known range activity, flare-like burn duration, slow drift, sequential fading and no independent evidence of a solid object connecting the lights.
When “flares” is a weak explanation
Because flares are a familiar UFO explanation, they are sometimes overused. A flare claim is weak when it is offered without a source, without matching geography, or without explaining the detailed timing of the lights. It is also weak when the reported object shows behaviour inconsistent with a descending pyrotechnic source, such as rapid acceleration from rest, repeated sharp turns, long-duration flight well beyond a flare’s burn time, or movement against measured wind with no aircraft or platform explanation.
Official confirmation also needs careful reading. In San Diego, the 2022 reports became clearer when police said military officials had confirmed the lights as exercise flares, even though nearby installations did not initially provide the same direct public answer. [ABC News]abcnews.comABC News Strange lights off San Diego coast have locals taking to social mediaABC News Strange lights off San Diego coast have locals taking to social media In Phoenix, the flare explanation is strong for the later light display but does not automatically settle every earlier report from the same night. [Deseret News]deseret.comNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret NewsNews Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret News
The fair conclusion is practical: flares are a high-priority hypothesis for bright night-time lights near training areas, but not a magic word that ends investigation. They become a robust IFO explanation only when the physical behaviour, location, timing and exercise evidence line up.
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The Phoenix Lights
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Skunk Works
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Endnotes
-
Source: deseret.com
Title: News Flares, not UFOs, caused light show, military says – Deseret News
Link: https://www.deseret.com/1997/7/26/19325702/flares-not-ufos-caused-light-show-military-says/ -
Source: 10news.com
Title: ABC 10 News San Diego KGTVNavy: Mystery lights were from training exercise
Link: https://www.10news.com/news/san-diego-county-residents-report-seeing-strange-lights-hovering-in-the-sky -
Source: globalsecurity.org
Title: Global Security LUU-2 Flare
Link: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/luu2.htm -
Source: GOV.UK
Title: Low flying military aircraft
Link: https://www.gov.uk/low-flying-in-your-area/where-and-when-low-flying-happens -
Source: GOV.UK
Title: Military low flying: MOD sponsored air exercises
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/military-low-flying-mod-sponsored-air-exercises -
Source: GOV.UK
Title: Military ranges firing notices
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/firing-notice -
Source: dni.gov
Link: https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf -
Source: globalsecurity.org
Link: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/systems/flares.htm -
Source: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
Link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a0b1048fcae986635db90fd/fly2000seriesprint_2026_05_18.pdf -
Source: legislation.gov.uk
Link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1562/made -
Source: legislation.gov.uk
Link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/3468/schedules/made -
Source: legislation.gov.uk
Link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/765/2017-12-14/data.xht?view=snippet&wrap=true -
Source: legislation.gov.uk
Link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1970/made?view=plain -
Source: legislation.gov.uk
Link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/2128/made -
Source: legislation.gov.uk
Link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/765/schedules/data.html -
Source: abcnews.com
Title: ABC News Strange lights off San Diego coast have locals taking to social media
Link: https://abcnews.com/US/strange-lights-off-san-diego-coast-locals-taking/story?id=85849918 -
Source: timesofsandiego.com
Link: https://timesofsandiego.com/military/2018/08/30/mysterious-lights-seen-over-san-diego-were-flares-from-navy-exercise/ -
Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/149844915349213/posts/2853199748347036/ -
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Phoenix Lights
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Lights -
Source: abcnews.com
Link: https://abcnews.com/Technology/phoenix-ufo-mystery-solved-lights-high-school-football/story?id=14884994 -
Source: planeandpilotmag.com
Title: the phoenix lights
Link: https://planeandpilotmag.com/the-phoenix-lights/
Additional References
-
Source: youtube.com
Title: What is Rocket Parachute Flare? Its use & requirements in SOLAS & LSA Code
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ath8mqbbBDYSource snippet
How to use Rocket Parachute Flare | Pyrotechnics Operating procedure | Distress Emergency Signal...
-
Source: cia.gov
Link: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp81r00560r000100010001-0 -
Source: nsa.gov
Link: https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/ufo/usaf_fact_sheet_95_03.pdf -
Source: youtube.com
Title: Comet Parachute Illuminating Rocket
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D1H_kGlbrYSource snippet
What is Rocket Parachute Flare? Its use & requirements in SOLAS & LSA Code...
-
Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/ABC15/posts/28-years-ago-today-thousands-of-people-around-the-valley-saw-a-light-formation-i/1090165073155888/ -
Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/TorquayCoastguard/videos/para-illumination-flares/452879819909709/ -
Source: skepticalinquirer.org
Link: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2015/03/alien-lights-at-phoenix-stephenville-and-elsewhere-a-postmortem/ -
Source: instagram.com
Link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXT4QFEDqid/ -
Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/News8/posts/cbs-8-viewers-have-sent-in-videos-showing-strange-mysterious-lights-appearing-ac/10160289578552552/ -
Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/thenorthernecho/posts/can-you-explain-these-strange-lights-in-the-sky-they-were-spotted-over-darlingto/1153832176753750/
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