Ihab Salloum[ad_1]
On March 13th 1997, an extraordinary event occurred across the state of Arizona that has become the subject of great debate in the UFO community. Hundreds, and perhaps thousands of witnesses from all walks of life reported seeing a large V-shaped craft, over a mile across with unusual lights, travel slowly and silently by at a very low altitude. Some witnesses who reported being directly underneath it as it passed, said it drifted right over the housetops, so close it seemed “they could almost touch it.”
Witness accounts suggest that at least one unknown craft and possibly others passed directly over Phoenix and penetrated through Sky Harbor airspace, before drifting off to the south towards Tucson. At least one air traffic controller at Sky Harbor Airport admitted in a televised news interview that he saw the lights from the tower using binoculars, but did not see anything on radar.
Skeptics and debunkers dismiss the event as flares or a host of other manmade or natural explanations while thousands of witnesses insist that what they saw cannot be explained in any known terms. There are many facts, photos, witness accounts and notable circumstances that are attached to the event and similar events that have occurred all over the world that are largely ignored by the media and completely ignored by a few staunch skeptics and debunkers who get way more media attention than they deserve.
First and very importantly, to avoid confusion we need to classify the Phoenix Lights Phenomenon into two categories:
LIGHTS ON MOVING CRAFT: These are the lights associated with the March 13th event (shortly after 8pm) that appeared to be fixed to a large V-shaped or triangular shaped craft. There are varying witness descriptions of different light arrays, patterns and number of lights which could suggest the possibility of multiple craft or a singular craft that changed as it flew across the Arizona skies. Witnesses all unanimously agree that the craft, or multiple craft, were completely silent and flew very close to the ground. One craft was over a mile wide according to hundreds of documented witness accounts.
ORBS: These are luminescent amber orbs that randomly appear individually, in pairs or groups. They can appear together in rigid formation or separated by miles. These orbs defy explanation and are the variety I personally observed on November 21st 2005 (read about my sighting). They do not flicker or emit any smoke trails and remain perfectly fixed in their position relative to each other and to the ground. Dr. Lynne Kitei, a well-respected Phoenix physician and key witness to the Phoenix Lights, personally observed these anomalous lights very close to her mountainside home in 1995. She had the unique opportunity to observe a trio of orbs in close proximity (less than 200 feet away) and described them as balls of amber light approximately three to six feet across. They did not glare, emit any beam of light or illuminate their adjacent surroundings. She could not identify what they were, but managed to capture them in a photograph. She said they dimmed out one by one “as if on a dimmer switch.”
The orbs are a separate phenomenon from what happened on March 13th 1997, which by all accounts was a massive UFO flyover. The orbs are fiercely argued to be flares dropped by the military due to their similar appearance. Skeptics have thrown out many explanations, none of which have been substantiated by any facts or witness accounts.
FLARE THEORY: By far the most common theory and the official theory given by the local Phoenix military. First let me point out that I am fully aware of the Barry Goldwater test range. I know where it is in proximity to Phoenix and I have an excellent understanding of the activity that takes place there based on numerous sources including military personnel. I know what flares look like, both from personal observation and analysis of video footage and photos, and I have personally spoken to military personnel who work with flares on a daily basis, including a highly qualified pyrotechnic expert. I don’t dispute that the military drops flares over the Barry Goldwater Range and that pilots often jettison their remaining flares before returning to base. I also agree that some, not all of the reported sightings of strange lights and a number of photos and videos that have been circulated around were indeed flares.
The big question here is; If flares are routinely dropped over the Barry Goldwater Range and they have done so since 1941, wouldn’t it be logical to assume that most people in Phoenix are used to seeing them? What would prompt thousands of people to suddenly call into local newspapers, police stations, news stations, radio stations and Luke Air Force base, all on the same night and all around the same time? It is plainly obvious that many people saw something very strange, not something as mundane and routine as a flare drop, and felt compelled to report it and find out what it was.
I challenge the debunkers who insist that ALL Phoenix Lights reports were actually flares, to consider looking at the real facts rather than dismiss the hundreds of verifiable witness reports, photos and investigative evidence out of hand. If there is conclusive evidence that can explain everything away and prove it was only flares, bring it to the table and let the public see it! The flare theory is a nice convenient way to explain glowing lights in the sky and seems like the most logical explanation for the Phoenix Lights until you consider all of the reasons why the theory doesn’t work:
FLARE THEORY DOESN’T FIT WITNESS TESTIMONIES: First you have to acknowledge the staggering number of witnesses that were out on the evening of March 13th 1997 hoping to catch a glimpse of the Halle-Bopp comet. It was a perfectly clear night and thousands of people from all walks of life, including doctors, police officers, little league coaches with their kids, people jogging, drivers on the road, all kinds of people were going about their business when suddenly, out of the blue, they look up and see an enormous V-shaped, semi-transparent craft with an array of lights, travel slowly and silently by, very low to the ground. Some witnesses said it went directly over their heads.
The shear number of matching witness accounts eliminates any possibility of a hoax, unless of course you are going to suggest that thousands of people got together and decided to make up some phony story, not only in Phoenix, but other countries that have reported similar phenomenon, just so they could all have a good laugh. Frankly, I would sooner believe that we were being visited from beyond than buy into a mass hoax conspiracy theory. If there were only a handful of reports coming from a small group of people partying and drinking out in the desert, I would surely and quickly dismiss the whole thing.
According to witness accounts at least one large V-shaped craft and possibly other triangular craft, flew across the entire state of Arizona, starting from Paulden all the way down to Phoenix and Tucson. The timeline of verifiable reports suggest that something did in fact travel across the entire state, which brings me to my first argument against the coveted flare theory; Flares don’t travel hundreds of miles, and witnesses in southern and northern Arizona couldn’t possibly see flares over the Barry Goldwater Range! Also, witnesses described a large semi-transparent craft with strange looking lights, not flares with smoke trails. Some witnesses were directly underneath as the craft flew over and swear that it was anything but flares!
DON’T INSULT THE WITNESSES’ INTELLIGENCE! Flare theorists seem to believe that witnesses can’t tell the difference between flares and something that by all accounts was completely out of this world. Many of the witnesses who came forward included active military personnel who work with flares on a daily basis. They were very adamant that what they saw were not flares! You don’t have to be a flare expert to tell what they look like. The burning magnesium from the flares illuminates the rising smoke above. They flicker and move about as they fall to the ground. The military staged a flare demo in 2000 hoping to convince everyone that what they actually saw were flares. The demonstration totally…
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