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Fact check

Is it true: Phoenix Lights (13 Mar 1997)?

Partially True4% confidence

Partly — it's more complicated than the claim suggests.

The Phoenix Lights comprised two distinct events on 13 March 1997. Event Two (stationary amber lights) is well-explained by USAF-confirmed LUU-2B/B flares from Operation Snowbird at Barry Goldwater Range. Event One (V-formation) is consistent with A-10 aircraft in formation. Neither event has evidence supporting extraterrestrial origin, though the events themselves are real.

The claim

On the evening of 13 March 1997, two distinct aerial events over Arizona generated thousands of eyewitness reports and became one of the most widely documented mass-UFO-sighting events in American his

Key evidence

Thousands of witnesses across Arizona reported the V-formation

USAF confirmed LUU-2B/B flares for Event Two

Read the full evidence file

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