The Phoenix Lights, sometimes called the "Lights Over Phoenix," were a series of widely seen unidentified flying objects in the skies over Arizona and Nevada on March 13, 1997. These sightings happened between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. MST, across an area about 300 miles (480 km) wide, from the Nevada border through Phoenix to near Tucson. Some people saw lights that looked like a large carpenter's square-shaped object with five round lights. Two different events were reported: one involved a triangle of lights flying over the state, and the other involved lights that stayed in place over Phoenix.

Both events were caused by aircraft from Operation Snowbird, a winter pilot training program run by the Air National Guard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. The first group of lights was later found to be a formation of A-10 Thunderbolt II planes returning to Davis-Monthan. The second group of lights was identified by Robert Sheaffer as flares dropped by another group of A-10 planes during training at the Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona. At the time, Arizona Governor Fife Symington later said he saw the event and described it as "otherworldly."

Similar lights were reported in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, these were from military flares dropped by fighter planes at Luke Air Force Base. In 2008, they were from flares attached to helium balloons released by a civilian.

1997 reports

On March 13, 1997, at 7:55 p.m. MST, a witness in Henderson, Nevada, saw a large, V-shaped object moving southeast. At 8:15 p.m., a former police officer in Paulden, Arizona, reported seeing a group of reddish-orange lights disappear over the southern horizon. Soon after, people in Prescott Valley, Arizona, also saw lights in the sky. Tim Ley, his wife Bobbi, his son Hal, and his grandson Damien Turnidge first saw the lights when they were about 65 miles (105 km) away.

At first, the lights looked like five separate lights in an arc shape, as if they were on top of a balloon. But the lights soon appeared to be moving toward the group. Over the next ten minutes, the lights got closer, the space between them grew, and they formed an upside-down V shape. When the lights were about two miles away, the family saw a shape that looked like a 60-degree carpenter’s square, with five lights placed inside it—one at the front and two on each side.

The object with the lights then appeared to move slowly, about 100 to 150 feet (30 to 46 meters) above the group, as if it were hovering silently. It passed over their heads and traveled through a V-shaped opening in the mountains toward Piestewa Peak Mountain and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Actor Kurt Russell, who is also an amateur pilot, reported seeing the lights to air traffic control.

Between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m., witnesses in Glendale, a suburb northwest of Phoenix, saw the lights pass overhead at a high altitude, where thin clouds made them hard to see. Amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley in Scottsdale, Arizona, observed the lights through a telescope and said they looked like individual airplanes flying in formation.

At about 10:00 p.m., many people in Phoenix saw a row of bright lights hovering in the sky or slowly falling. Photographs and videos were taken, leading author Robert Sheaffer to call it "perhaps the most widely witnessed UFO event in history."

Sheaffer explained that the event, known as the "Phoenix Lights" incident of 1997, involved two separate sightings caused by the same organization: Operation Snowbird, a pilot training program run by the Air National Guard from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson astronomer and retired Air Force pilot James McGaha also studied the sightings and linked them to A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft flying in formation at high altitude.

The first incident, often described as a large “flying triangle,” began around 8:00 p.m. It was caused by five A-10 jets from Operation Snowbird following an air traffic corridor and flying under visual flight rules. Military aircraft are not required to use blinking collision lights, so the formation used steady lights instead. The jets flew over Phoenix and landed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base at about 8:45 p.m.

The second incident, described as a row of bright lights hovering or slowly falling, began around 10:00 p.m. It was caused by a flare drop exercise by A-10 jets from the Maryland Air National Guard, also part of Operation Snowbird. The U.S. Air Force explained the exercise involved dropping LUU-2B/B illumination flares from four A-10 aircraft during training at the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. The flares burned slowly and fell behind the Sierra Estrella mountain range, creating the illusion of lights hovering due to heat from the flares. The flares’ brightness may have blocked the view of stars in the sky.

A Maryland Air National Guard pilot, Lt. Col. Ed Jones, confirmed in 2007 that he flew one of the aircraft involved in the flare drop. The 104th Fighter Squadron, part of the Maryland Air National Guard, was responsible for the incident, as reported in The Arizona Republic in 1997.

Later comparisons with known military flare drops showed similarities to the Phoenix Lights. Studies of LUU-2B/B flares confirmed that their brightness at distances of 50–70 miles (80–113 km) matched the lights seen from Phoenix.

During the event, many photos and videos showed lights appearing at regular intervals, staying visible for a few moments before disappearing. These images were later explained as the result of mountains blocking the view of flares from certain angles, creating the illusion of lights appearing and disappearing one by one.

Governor's response

In 1997, Arizona Governor Fife Symington III held a press conference and joked that "they found who was responsible" for an incident, showing an aide wearing an alien costume. In 2007, Symington told a UFO investigator that he had a personal close encounter with an alien spacecraft. He explained that he remained silent because he did not want to cause public fear. Symington, who is a pilot, stated that the spacecraft was larger than any flying machine he had ever seen. He described the event as a mystery and noted that other people, including responsible individuals, had also seen it. He expressed confusion about why some people dismiss the experience.

Later reports

On February 6, 2007, lights were seen by people and shown on a local Fox News TV station. Military officials and the FAA said the lights were flares dropped by F-16 "Fighting Falcon" planes training at Luke Air Force Base.

On April 21, 2008, people in Phoenix saw lights in the sky. These lights changed shape from square to triangle over time. A person from the valley said that shortly after the lights appeared, three jets were seen flying west toward the lights. A Luke Air Force Base official said there were no U.S. Air Force planes in the area. The next day, a Phoenix resident told a newspaper the lights were from his neighbor’s helium balloons with flares attached. This was confirmed by a police helicopter. The following day, a Phoenix resident, who did not want to be named in news reports, said he had attached flares to helium balloons and released them from his backyard.