Phoenix Lights Mass UFO Sighting Was Dismissed as Military Flares

On March 13, 1997, somewhere between 8 and 10 p.m., thousands of people across Arizona looked up and saw something that conventional explanations couldn't easily account for. What they described was a massive, silent craft—roughly a mile wide according to some estimates—moving slowly across the Phoenix night sky. The sighting lasted roughly 300 seconds, yet it would take years before one of Arizona's highest-ranking officials would publicly acknowledge what he himself had witnessed.

The official story came quickly. The U.S. Air Force attributed the sightings to flares—specifically LUU-2B/B illumination flares deployed during routine military exercises at the Barry Goldwater Range. It was a simple, clean explanation that fit neatly into existing frameworks. Military flares, after all, could create unusual visual effects when deployed at altitude. Case closed.

Governor Fife Symington's initial response seemed to reinforce this narrative. In a move that has become infamous in UFO documentation circles, Symington held a press conference where an aide appeared in an alien costume, turning the mass sighting into an object of public ridicule. For someone concerned about civic panic or media hysteria, mocking the witnesses might have seemed like damage control. For the thousands who had seen the object themselves, it felt like dismissal.

What made this situation unusual was the sheer number of credible witnesses. This wasn't a handful of rural observers or night shift workers. Pilots reported it. Police officers reported it. Entire neighborhoods saw it. The Phoenix Lights remains one of the most witnessed UFO events in American history, with estimates ranging from several hundred to over 10,000 direct witnesses across multiple counties.

The turning point came years later when Symington himself broke the official silence. He admitted publicly that he had observed the object that night. More significantly, he stated that what he witnessed was "unlike anything I've ever seen" and that he could not explain it through conventional means. His statement carried weight—this wasn't a fringe believer or attention-seeker. This was the sitting governor of Arizona, a man with every reason to maintain , saying the didn't match his own experience.