March 1997 Arizona Sightings Solved

Many sightings of similar objects were made in March of 1997. Here is an analysis of this case (color-coded by the solutions):

SECTION 1 - THE TESTIMONY:

• Key:

  • Object crossed the sky and disappeared (green for go)
  • Object took erratic path (amber for hesitate)
  • Object hovered in place (red for stop)
  • Other

• The sightings in chronological order:

  1. 03/07 2110-2130 Phoenix (Moran) Amber light west of airport
  2. 03/10 .. 03/12 Ahwatukee (?) Orange lights over Gila River Ind Res
  3. 03/13 18:55 PST (19:55 MST) Henderson, Nevada (?) V-shaped object moving NW to SE. Size of Boeing 747 sound of rushing wind, six lights on leading edge.
  4. 03/13 On I-40 north of Prescott (Contry) 5 jet aircraft with running and landing lights flying south seen through binoculars
  5. 03/13 2000 Paulden (?) 5 diamond shaped objects with wispy tails
  6. 03/13 2015 Glendale (Kelley) 7 lights in V shape moving S Blimp speed, no sound, formation changed, then group turned east and faded
  7. 03/13 2016 Paulden (former police) 4-5 reddish lights in a rough V, followed by another light, each light was two lights
  8. 03/13 2017 Prescott (?) 4-5 white lights in a triangle
  9. 03/13 2017-2020 Prescott Valley (?) Triangle of red lights with white front light, no sound, moving SE
  10. 03/13 2020 Dewey (many) Lights in V, low, no sound, hovered overhead several minutes
  11. 03/13 Chino Valley (no account collected)
  12. 03/13 Phoenix (?) Cluster of lights moving S, each light seemed to be two lights, 2 aircraft in vicinity turned away from the objects
  13. 03/13 Lake Pleasant (Air: Middleton+) airplanes moving south.
  14. 03/13 Phoenix (Stanley) Formation of 5 lights seen through 10-inch telescope, seen as 5 airplanes with three bright white lights on each airplane
  15. 03/13 Phoenix (many) Boomerang with angular size 10 moons hovered, then went S, appeared to fire laser to front for an instant, then lights dimmed and faded out
  16. 03/13 2023 Phoenix (Fournier) Row of 5 white lights moving SE, no sound
  17. 03/13 2030 Phoenix Airport (pilot) waiting to take off, saw lights above; was told there was nothing on RADAR
  18. 03/13 2020 Phoenix (?) Pilot reported near miss with large object. 2 jets from Luke AFB intercepted object to W headed toward Sky Harbor (Phoenix International) Airport.
  19. 03/13 2030 Phoenix (?) Southbound flying triangle
  20. 03/13 2030 Ahwatukee (Gerboth) 5 amber lights in a triangle NW -> SW
  21. 03/13 2035 Phoenix (?) 5-7 lights in triangular formation moving N to S, lights dimmed, and then disappeared one at a time
  22. 03/13 2030 Chandler (Fortson) Translucent object with lights
      occulted moon, moon turned yellow while behind object, lights on object rippled, object went S
  23. 03/13 Tempe (no account collected)
  24. 03/13 2045 Saddlebrook (?) Slow golden lights in diamond flying S
  25. 03/13 2050-2110 Chandler (many) 7 orange lights, gray panels, no sound, one light detached and returned, a white light trailing a red glow followed the main object
  26. 03/13 2045-2100 Tucson (?) Line of lights moving NW -> S
  27. 03/13 2130 Ahwatukee (Hamilton, King, +) 6 orange lights in SW
  28. 03/13 2130 Ahwatukee (Gerboth) 7 amber lights, set behind Estrella Mountains to SW
  29. 03/13 2200 Scottsdale (Ozma) 10 lights moving SE, this flight was videotaped
  30. 03/13 2210 Goodyear (Greiner) 3 jets from Luke AFB intercepted object to SW, object shot straight up, it disappeared just before jet passed through its location; another in NE, objects amber with pulsating red ring, like a "hippie peace sign"
  31. 03/13 2210 Luke AFB (air) Objects did not appear on targeting RADAR of F-15s
  32. 03/13 (late) Kingman (?) Large cluster of lights in N
  33. 03/22 0500 Tucson (?) Formation of 30 lights moving N
  34. 04/14 Chandler, Coolidge (?) Several lights

• The sequence:

  1. Object seen in Phoenix on the 7th
  2. Objects seen in Ahwatukee on the 10th
  3. Objects seen in Ahwatukee on the 11th
  4. Objects seen in Ahwatukee on the 12th
  5. Lights seen in Paulden on the 13th, 2000-2016
  6. Lights seen in Prescott area on the 13th, 2015-2020; also includes Prescott Valley, Dewey, and Chino Valley
  7. The first flight over the Phoenix area on the 13th, 2015-2035; also includes Glendale, Scottsdale, Tempe, Ahwatukee, and Chandler
  8. Lights seen in the Tucson area on the 13th, 2045-2100; also includes Saddlebrook
  9. The second flight seen from the Phoenix area on the 13th, 2130
  10. The third flight seen from the Phoenix area on the 13th, 2200
  11. The interception at Luke AFB, Goodyear on the 13th, 2210
  12. The Kingman sighting on the 13th
  13. Tucson on the 22nd
  14. Chandler and Coolidge in April

• What's Missing:

  1. If these were high altitude objects, they should have been reported from Flagstaff, Wickenburg, Casa Grande, Coolidge, Eloy, and other cities and towns near the flight path reported on the 13th.
  2. There were at least 3 flights over the Phoenix area on the 13th:
     1. the one 2015-2035
     2. the one at 2130
     3. the Scottsdale sighting at 2200 (May be the one above with the wrong reported time)
     4. and the Luke AFB interception at 2210
  3. Some of the time variations in the particular localities may have been due to errors in determining the time.

SECTION 2 - THE EVALUATION:

• The general information:
  1. Altitude:
     • Most of the objects seemed to be low.
     • Exceptions are the objects on the 13th at 2200 in Scottsdale, and those on the 10th, 11th, and 12th in Ahwatukee.
  2. There seemed to be three main kinds of objects:
     • Those that crossed the sky
     • Those that moved erratically
     • Those that hovered in place
  3. The lights were separate, but some saw them as part of a larger object.
  4. Some of the lights moved relative to the rest.
  5. The overall angular size was as large as 10 moons.
  6. The flights near 2015 on the 13th had a triangle or V formation.
  7. The colors were variously reported as red, white, orange, amber, and yellow.
  8. The lights were described as soft by some witnesses.
  9. One witness saw a gray shape against the black sky.
  10. One witness saw a transparent yellow object occulting the moon, and a "distortion field" around the object.
  11. One witness saw an amber light with a red pulsating ring around it.
  12. Only one of the sighting times was outside the evening period.
  13. The lights reappeared on several successive nights.
  14. The lights in the formation went out one by one.
  15. A brief "laser ray" was seen by one witness as coming from the front of the object as it flew away from the witness.
  16. One light moved ahead and then returned as the objects flew away from another witness.
  17. There was no sound.
  18. All of the objects on the 13th moved to the south or southeast.
  19. One witness thought of hot-air balloons without baskets.
  20. The videos, taken of the objects seen from Scottsdale at 2200, show nothing but slowly moving reddish-white lights.
  21. Four videos of the 03/13/97 2200 objects, taken from four different places, triangulate to a point over the Luke Air Force Range, 40 miles southwest of Phoenix.
  22. The objects over Scottsdale at 2200 seemed a lot slower than the others were.
  23. Speeds reported varied from swift to hovering. "Blimp speed" was a common description.
  24. The objects did not appear on RADAR.

SECTION 3 - THE IDENTIFICATIONS

Three different kinds of objects were combined into one case:

The images are not original photos. They are artist representations of what was seen.

• Part 1: PARACHUTE FLARES were seen in sightings near Ahwatukee on the 10th, 11th, and 12th, and the Scottsdale sighting at 2200 on the 13th.

  • They usually fly much higher than fire balloons, being dropped from aircraft.
  • Since they follow the wind, clusters of them tend to stay together, but individual flares can move relative to the others when subjected to variations in the air currents.
  • The large angular size is due to the fact that several objects were seen as one large object.
  • The video images are consistent with parachute flares, after taking into account camera jiggle in zoom, low light levels, and altered color balance caused by low light levels.
  • Parachute flares were dropped from an A-10 by the Maryland Air National Guard, in training for flood rescue techniques at Davis Monthan AFB, South of Tucson. This fact was ultimately revealed by the men who dropped the flares, but they did not find out that they had caused UFO sightings until 4 months later, when they saw the UFO controversy on network TV. At that time, they reported to authorities what had happened.
  • The flares were dropped one by one from a plane, and that is why the lights appeared one at a time.
  • The flares were dropped over the Luke Air Force Range.
  • The lights went out one by one as the flares burned out.
  • Parachute flares don't make any noise (plus, they were 40 miles away).
  • The drift of the known flares sets the wind direction as from the NNW.
  • The triangulation from the videos matches the reported location of the flare drop.
  • Similar flare drops occurred before and after these dates, but the "Hale-Bopp Comet UFO" report released by the HeavensGate cult had just been in the news (the mass suicide was a few days after this sighting). This had people thinking about UFOs.
  • Since these objects were higher, and were falling slowly on parachutes, they did hover south of Phoenix (Over 40 miles south, to be precise - near Gila Bend).
  • Parachute flares don't have any metal parts, so they don't appear on RADAR.
  • Other cases of this type include the 08/02/67 Cape Ann MA sighting (Condon case 29) and the 07/04/64 Clearwater FL sightings.
  • Another possible "cause" of the fire balloon prank (see below) is the publicity over the sightings made of these flares on the previous three days.

• Part 2: FIVE JET AIRCRAFT FLYING LOW probably caused most of the sightings in a line from Paulden to Phoenix around 2000 on the 13th:

  • The planes were probably jet aircraft flying slow.
  • The planes were flying in a V formation.
  • The large angular size is due to the fact that several objects were seen as one large object.
  • The landing lights faced forward, so the lights faded out as the planes passed the witnesses.
  • The lights went out one by one as the angle of each plane hid its landing lights separately.
  • The navigation lights normally do not face downward, so the witness saw no other lights.
  • Lights seen at a distance can seem soft.
  • The transparent yellow in front of the moon was caused by either the jet exhaust or the contrast between the color of the moon and the color of the lights.
  • The distortion field was caused by the heat from the engines. This is a common effect.
  • Usually only the lead plane has its RADAR transponder on. The pilot probably forgot to turn it on, so the planes did not appear on RADAR at all. Or the planes may have been on an aircraft avoidance training mission. Note that metal reflection RADAR is no longer used for air traffic control.
  • All of the cities involved were sites of other recently publicized cases. Thus, people were out looking for UFOs.
  • The object that went ahead was a plane that slipped out of formation and then returned.
  • Jets flying slow don't make much noise.
  • These were seen by an American West 757 airliner crew near Lake Pleasant (North of Phoenix). An air traffic controller identified them as a formation of five CT-144s flying at 19,000 feet.

• Part 3: FIRE BALLOONS probably caused most of the sightings, other than the ones near Ahwatukee on the 10th, 11th and 12th, the flight from Prescott to Phoenix, the Scottsdale sighting at 2200 on the 13th, the sightings which are vaguely described, and the ones with no detailed report.

  • Fire balloons usually fly low.
  • Since they follow the wind, clusters of them tend to stay together, but individual balloons can move relative to the others when subjected to variations in the air.
  • The large angular size is due to the fact that several objects were seen as one large object.
  • The low light level from the candles can be seen to dark-adapted eyes as various colors. The angle of viewing can also let the color of the candle wax enter into the observed color.
  • Candlelight seems soft.
  • The gray seen against the sky was from the dry-cleaner bags, with the sky seen through them.
  • The red pulsating ring was the bottom rim of the bag and the drinking straws or balsa wood structure reflecting the candlelight - a classic fire balloon symptom.
  • Pranksters tend to launch these in the hours of 2000-2300.
  • The materials necessary to make many of these can be had for less than $20.
  • The lights went out one by one as the candles burned out or fell. This made all three kinds of objects seem to be the same.
  • The "laser ray" was a falling candle - a classic fire balloon symptom.
  • Candles don't make any noise. Neither do drinking straws, balsa wood, or dry-cleaner bags moving with the wind.
  • High reported speed is due to the object seeming farther away than it was.
  • Fire balloons don't have any metal parts, so they don't appear on RADAR.
  • A hot-air balloon was on the right track. That's what fire balloons are.
  • The report of a "hippie peace sign" is a good description of the structure holding the candles at the bottom of the fire balloon.
  • Other cases of this include the 09/25/59 Redmond OR sighting, the 09/03/65 Exeter NH police sighting, Condon Report cases 17 and 18, and possibly the 04/17/66 police chase from Atwater OH to Conway PA.
  • One possible "cause" of the prank is the publicity over the Hale-Bopp comet "UFO." This has since been identified as a star, which didn't show up in a misconfigured star chart computer program.
  • The parachute flares had been seen on the three previous nights (see above). Pranksters tend to start launching fire balloons right after a publicized UFO sighting.
  • Another possible source of the balloons is students on spring break with nothing to do.
  • The HeavensGate cult leaders might have had a hand in this prank too.

SECTION 4 - CONCLUSION

Three different kinds of objects were combined into one case.

• The large objects were parachute flares, dropped by the Maryland National Guard. Witnesses combined them into one object.
• The fast moving objects at 2000 were military airplanes on a mission. Witnesses combined them into one object.
• Most of the other objects sighted were probably fire balloons launched by pranksters reacting to the initial sightings.

The combination of unrelated events into one UFO case makes the case seen stranger than it is.

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