Why the Later Phoenix Lights Fit Flares

Introduction

The famous “Phoenix Lights” of 13 March 1997 are easiest to understand when the late-evening display is separated from reports made earlier in the night. At about 10 p.m., Phoenix-area observers and television cameras recorded a row or arc of brilliant lights that appeared to hang over the south-western horizon before disappearing one after another. For this later episode, the evidence for military illumination flares is unusually strong.

The Maryland Air National Guard was training in Arizona that night, and A-10 aircraft dropped high-intensity illumination flares over a military range south-west of Phoenix at about the relevant time. Contemporary reporting later traced the activity to the North Tactical Range, while a pilot involved in the exercise subsequently confirmed his unit’s flare release. The location also matters: analyses of the filmed lights placed them towards the military range, beyond the Sierra Estrella mountains.[Phoenix New Times]phoenixnewtimes.comPhoenix New Times Flashes | Phoenix New TimesPhoenix New TimesFlashes | Phoenix New TimesJuly 31, 1997…Published: July 31, 1997

That combination — documented aircraft, the right time, the right direction, an appropriate flare type and terrain that explains the apparent disappearances — makes the approximately 10 p.m. Phoenix display a particularly instructive case of conventional lights being reported as UFOs.

Military activity south-west of Phoenix

The most important evidence is not simply that illumination flares could resemble the recorded lights. There is independent evidence that military aircraft were actually releasing flares in the relevant area and time window.

The aircraft belonged to the Maryland Air National Guard, whose personnel were temporarily operating from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base during winter training in Arizona. Reporting after the event identified the 104th Fighter Squadron and its A-10 aircraft as participants in exercises on the Barry M. Goldwater Range. Arizona National Guard public-affairs officer Captain Eileen Bienz investigated after the event and established that flares had been released at approximately 10 p.m. over the North Tactical Range, south-west of Phoenix. Contemporary Phoenix reporting described the release altitude as about 15,000 feet.[Phoenix New Times]phoenixnewtimes.comPhoenix New Times Flashes | Phoenix New TimesPhoenix New TimesFlashes | Phoenix New TimesJuly 31, 1997…Published: July 31, 1997

This information was not immediately communicated clearly. Early statements that no relevant military aircraft were flying contributed to suspicion surrounding the case. Later investigation found that officials had not initially accounted properly for visiting National Guard aircraft. Tony Ortega’s reporting describes how Bienz learnt from National Guard helicopter pilots about A-10s returning towards Tucson and then established that the Maryland unit had been conducting exercises.[The Underground Bunker]tonyortega.orgOpen source on tonyortega.org.

The attribution subsequently became more direct. Maryland Air National Guard pilot Lieutenant Colonel Ed Jones confirmed in 2007 that he had been one of the pilots in the group that released flares that night. Accounts of the unit’s history also identified the 104th Fighter Squadron with the incident.[kb42]kb42.infoPhoenix LightsPhoenix Lights - KB42…

This makes the flare hypothesis fundamentally different from a retrospective suggestion based only on visual similarity. It has an identified military unit, aircraft operating in the area, a training range in the observed direction and testimony that the relevant ordnance was actually released.

Direction and timing fit the training range

From Phoenix, the Barry M. Goldwater Range and the North Tactical Range lie towards the south-western horizon. That geometry is central to the identification because the late Phoenix Lights were filmed looking towards the same general area.

Investigations of the videos placed the lights far from the observers rather than directly above metropolitan Phoenix. Optical physicist Bruce Maccabee, who investigated the case from a UFO-research perspective rather than simply accepting the military explanation, analysed several recordings and concluded that the prominent late-night arc of lights was at considerable distance from Phoenix, probably in the vicinity of the military range. Even a Phoenix Lights advocacy site acknowledges his conclusion that the arc videos most likely recorded Maryland Air National Guard illumination flares.[Phoenix Lights Network]thephoenixlights.netPhoenix Lights Network HomePhoenix Lights NetworkHome - Dr. Kite UFO Photos - Phoenix Lights Network…

That distance helps explain one of the display’s superficially puzzling features: the lights seemed almost stationary. An illumination flare is not a rapidly falling firework. The LUU-2 family is designed to descend beneath a parachute while providing intense illumination for several minutes. Modern manufacturer specifications describe the LUU-2 as producing about 1.8 million candlepower for five minutes.[Magellan Aerospace]magellan.aeroFinal 191223 LUU 2 Flares for CAFspaceMAGELLAN AEROSPACE ANNOUNCES CONTRACTS TO PRODUCEDecember 18, 2023…Published: December 18, 2023

At tens of miles’ distance, several minutes of gradual descent occupies only a small angle in the observer’s field of view. The parachutes themselves are effectively invisible, as are the releasing aircraft once they have moved away. What remains visually prominent is a group of extraordinarily bright points against a dark sky. Their slow downward motion can consequently be perceived as hovering or very gentle drifting.

The timing is similarly specific. The extensively filmed stationary or slowly descending lights appeared around 10 p.m., matching the reported flare exercise. This is why treating every observation made during the broader Phoenix Lights evening as one continuous event creates confusion. The flare evidence is strongest for this late display; it does not require claiming that every report from earlier that evening had the same cause. Recent summaries of the case likewise distinguish the second wave of lights from the earlier sightings.[Axios]axios.comlights arizona ufo legend 1997Thousands of residents in the Phoenix area reported witnessing mysterious lights arranged in a "V" formation hovering silently over the V…

Why the lights vanished near the mountains

Perhaps the most revealing feature of the videos is the way individual lights disappear. To observers at night, several bright sources seemed to extinguish separately while suspended above the horizon. That behaviour can look deliberate, particularly when the dark landscape provides few distance cues.

The Sierra Estrella mountains provide a straightforward alternative. They stand between much of metropolitan Phoenix and the military training areas farther south-west. A parachute flare descending on the far side of the range would remain visible above the mountain skyline and then abruptly disappear when it fell below that line of sight. Because the mountains themselves are difficult or impossible to see in the dark footage, the light can appear simply to switch off in empty sky.[Phoenix New Times]phoenixnewtimes.comthe phoenix lights are no mystery 6661825Phoenix New TimesThe 1997 "Phoenix Lights" are no mystery | Phoenix New Times…

This explanation was tested using daytime views from the recording locations. Cognitech, a video-analysis company, compared imagery of the nighttime lights with daytime imagery showing the otherwise invisible terrain and reported that the disappearances corresponded with the Sierra Estrella skyline. Arizona State University astronomer Paul Scowen reportedly performed another analysis consistent with that result.[Ufology]ufology.wikidot.comUfology Phoenix LightsUfology Phoenix Lights

The distinction between burning out and being occulted by terrain is important. If the lights had vanished at positions unrelated to the landscape, the mountain explanation would have little force. Instead, the reported alignment gives the flare model a geometric prediction: as descending sources pass behind the ridge from the camera’s perspective, they should disappear at the ridge line. The video comparisons indicate that this is substantially what happened.

Local television supplied another useful comparison. In June 1997, KPNX-TV Channel 12 reporter Blair Meeks filmed a known military flare release over the ranges south-west of Phoenix. Contemporary reporting described the resulting hovering lights as looking remarkably similar to the approximately 10 p.m. display of 13 March.[Enigma Labs | Report a UFO sighting]enigmalabs.ioEnigma Labs | Report a UFO sighting Phoenix Lights | Enigma LabsEnigma Labs | Report a UFO sighting Phoenix Lights | Enigma Labs

Why the flare evidence is stronger than appearance alone

Nighttime lights are intrinsically difficult to identify because video usually preserves brightness and angular position while losing the information needed to judge physical distance, altitude and size. The Phoenix footage therefore cannot, by itself, tell a viewer whether a light is a relatively nearby object over the city or an extremely bright source many tens of miles away.

The late Phoenix case is persuasive because several separate lines of evidence converge:

• The activity existed. Maryland Air National Guard A-10s were conducting training associated with the Barry M. Goldwater Range, rather than being aircraft invented as a hypothetical explanation afterwards.[Phoenix New Times]phoenixnewtimes.comPhoenix New Times Flashes | Phoenix New TimesPhoenix New TimesFlashes | Phoenix New TimesJuly 31, 1997…Published: July 31, 1997
• Flares were actually released. Investigators traced an illumination-flare drop to roughly 10 p.m., and pilot Ed Jones later personally confirmed participating in the release.[Project Unredacted]projectunredacted.comphoenix lights 1997Project UnredactedThe Phoenix Lights (1997) — UFO sighting Explained | Project Unredacted…
• The direction fits. The prominent late-night lights appeared towards the south-west, where the military range lies from Phoenix. Video analysis also placed the sources at substantial distance in that direction.[Phoenix Lights Network]thephoenixlights.netPhoenix Lights Network HomePhoenix Lights NetworkHome - Dr. Kite UFO Photos - Phoenix Lights Network…
• The equipment fits the behaviour. LUU-2 illumination flares are exceptionally bright and remain illuminated for roughly five minutes, making slowly descending parachute-borne sources readily visible at great distance.[Magellan Aerospace]magellan.aeroFinal 191223 LUU 2 Flares for CAFspaceMAGELLAN AEROSPACE ANNOUNCES CONTRACTS TO PRODUCEDecember 18, 2023…Published: December 18, 2023
• The terrain fits the disappearances. Reconstructions using daylight views place the Sierra Estrella skyline where the lights disappeared, consistent with descending sources being progressively hidden by the mountains.[Ufology]ufology.wikidot.comUfology Phoenix LightsUfology Phoenix Lights
• Known flare drops produced a comparable display. A subsequent military flare release filmed by local television generated lights reported as closely resembling those recorded at about 10 p.m. on 13 March.[Enigma Labs | Report a UFO sighting]enigmalabs.ioEnigma Labs | Report a UFO sighting Phoenix Lights | Enigma LabsEnigma Labs | Report a UFO sighting Phoenix Lights | Enigma Labs

No single item is decisive in isolation. A bright light can have many causes; military activity somewhere in Arizona would not automatically explain a particular observation; and visual resemblance alone is weak identification evidence. Here, however, the operational record, timing, geography, optical behaviour and terrain are mutually reinforcing.

What remains disputed

The flare interpretation has sometimes been rejected because witnesses to the Phoenix Lights described an enormous V-shaped or triangular object, sometimes apparently passing overhead. That objection matters to the wider Phoenix Lights story, but it does not directly contradict the explanation of the later filmed display.

The crucial distinction is chronological. Reports earlier in the evening concerned moving formations seen along a much broader route. The heavily filmed lights at about 10 p.m. were a later display towards the south-western horizon. Even sources sympathetic to the UFO interpretation recognise that distinction, and some explicitly accept that the late arc was probably produced by military illumination flares while disputing explanations for other observations.[Phoenix Lights Network]thephoenixlights.netPhoenix Lights Network HomePhoenix Lights NetworkHome - Dr. Kite UFO Photos - Phoenix Lights Network…

There have also been disputes over particular recordings and analyses. Some advocates have argued that not every light filmed near 10 p.m. necessarily belongs to the same flare sequence, while competing video overlays have produced arguments about whether particular lights lay in front of or beyond the mountains. Those disagreements make it sensible not to claim that every luminous point photographed anywhere around Phoenix that night has been individually identified.[Phoenix Lights Network]thephoenixlights.netPhoenix Lights Network HomePhoenix Lights NetworkHome - Dr. Kite UFO Photos - Phoenix Lights Network…

They do much less, however, to undermine the identification of the principal late-evening arc. For that display, an unusual amount of contextual evidence accompanies the images. The Maryland Air National Guard was there; its A-10s used illumination flares; the release occurred at approximately the correct time and in the correct sector; the flare characteristics reproduce the apparent hovering; and the Sierra Estrella terrain accounts for the sequential disappearances.

The identification lesson from Phoenix

The late Phoenix Lights illustrate why an apparently extraordinary visual display can become much less mysterious once the observer’s line of sight is reconstructed. Seen only on a black videotape, a row of luminous objects appears to hang unsupported in the sky and then vanish. Add the missing geography and the same sequence becomes compatible with parachute flares descending beyond a dark mountain range.

The case also shows why identifying UFO or UAP reports requires more than matching shapes in photographs. Strong identification comes from combining independent constraints: when the lights appeared, where observers were looking, what conventional activity was documented there, how the candidate source physically behaves and whether the landscape predicts what the cameras recorded.

For the approximately 10 p.m. Phoenix display, those constraints converge unusually well. The evidence does not depend on assuming that every observation associated with the broader Phoenix Lights episode was a flare. It supports the narrower and much better documented conclusion: the prominent late-night lights over the south-western Phoenix horizon closely match illumination flares released during military training, with their slow parachute descent and disappearance behind the Sierra Estrella mountains accounting for the features that made the display seem so strange.

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Endnotes

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Title: Phoenix Lights
Link:https://kb42.info/index.php?title=Phoenix_Lights

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Title: Final 191223 LUU 2 Flares for CAF
Link:https://magellan.aero/wp-content/uploads/Final%20191223%20-%20LUU-2%20Flares%20for%20CAF.pdf

Published: December 18, 2023

3. Source: axios.com
Title: lights arizona ufo legend 1997
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Title: Enigma Labs | Report a UFO sighting Phoenix Lights | Enigma Labs
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5. Source: magellan.aero
Title: MAGELLA N AEROSPACE ANNOUNCES CONTRACTS TO PRODUCE AIRCRAFT ILLUMINATION FLARES
Link:https://magellan.aero/press-release/magellan-aerospace-announces-contracts-to-produce-aircraft-illumination-flares-2/

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Published: July 31, 1997

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Additional References

42. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Phoenix Lights: Unravelling the Greatest UFO Mystery in History
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=978heKmAXW0

43. Source: youtube.com
Title: THE PHOENIX LIGHTS: Military activity or paranormal orbs?
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dacStPcgf6M

44. Source: blm.gov
Link:https://www.blm.gov/press-release/departments-air-force-and-navy-apply-extend-and-expand-military-withdrawal-barry-m

45. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Phoenix Lights: America’s Greatest UFO Mystery
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I51A6l4e8_k

46. Source: scribd.com
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Link:https://www.vocalize.fm/ru/allvoices

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