Fact check
Is it true: Phoenix Lights?
There's no solid evidence for it.
Two distinct events on March 13, 1997 over Phoenix: (1) approximately 8:15-8:30 PM, a V-shaped formation of lights moved slowly south from Nevada through Arizona toward Tucson. Witnessed by thousands. (2) approximately 10:00 PM, a row of lights appeared south of Phoenix. A Maryland Air National Guard spokesman attributed the 10:00 PM lights to A-10 flare drops over the Barry M. Goldwater Range (statement reported in July 1997), and Lt. Col. Ed Jones confirmed in 2007 that he flew in the flare-dropping formation. The earlier V-formation has never been officially attributed and no tail numbers or flight logs have been published, but amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley watched each light resolve into a pair on a squarish wing through a 10-inch telescope, and McGaha and Nickell's analysis of amateur video found the lights moving relative to one another, consistent with five separate aircraft (possibly A-10s or T-37 trainers) rather than one solid craft. No physical, radar or instrument evidence of an extraterrestrial craft has been produced (the FAA reported nothing unusual on radar in 1997). The cover-up claim rests on an early Davis-Monthan statement that the base had no planes in the air (its spokesman later said he had meant only the base's own aircraft) and a months-long delay before the flare explanation, not on evidence of concealed hardware. Governor Fife Symington, who mocked the incident at a June 19, 1997 press conference, said in 2007 that he had seen it, that it was bigger than anything he had seen and "felt otherworldly"; he described what he saw, not evidence of what it was.
The claim
On March 13, 1997, thousands of Arizonans witnessed lights moving in formation over Phoenix, Nevada, and northern Mexico. Claims include alien craft, experimental aircraft, and a government cover-up;
Key evidence
Thousands witnessed V-formation
10 PM event was military flares
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