On the evening of March 13, 1997, a celestial enigma unfolded across the Southwest that would become one of the most documented mass UFO sightings in history. Between 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., thousands of people across Arizona, Nevada, and parts of Mexico looked up to witness two distinct, inexplicable aerial events.
The First Sighting: The Colossal V
The mystery began when reports flooded in of a massive, V-shaped formation of lights moving silently from northern Arizona toward Tucson.
- Scale: Witnesses described a craft so large—some estimated it at over a mile wide—that it physically blocked out the stars as it glided overhead.
- Silence: Despite its proximity (some claimed it was only 100 to 150 feet above them), the object produced absolutely no engine noise.
- Witnesses: Among the observers were police officers, families, and even professional pilots, including actor Kurt Russell, who reported the lights while flying into Phoenix Sky Harbor.
The Second Sighting: The Hovering Orbs
Later that night, around 10:00 p.m., a second set of stationary, amber-colored lights appeared in a wide arc over the Sierra Estrella mountain range. These lights hovered for several minutes before disappearing one by one. This event was widely captured on home video and became the face of the “Phoenix Lights” in national media.
The Aftermath and the Governor’s Confession
The public demanded answers, but official responses only deepened the intrigue:
- The Joke: To defuse the growing panic, then-Governor Fife Symington III held a press conference where his chief of staff appeared in a silver alien costume to “reveal” the culprit.
- The Flare Explanation: The Air National Guard eventually claimed the 10:00 p.m. lights were military illumination flares dropped during “Operation Snowbird”.
- The Reversal: A decade later, Symington dropped a bombshell, admitting he had personally seen the craft and believed it was “otherworldly”. He explained that he had mocked the incident at the time to prevent a “state of hysteria”.
Despite military explanations, many witnesses remain unconvinced, noting that flares do not travel in solid formations or block out the stars. Today, the Phoenix Lights remain a cornerstone of local culture and a haunting reminder of the night a silent giant allegedly drifted over the Valley of the Sun.
The Governor’s Conversion
In 2007, ten years after the “Phoenix Lights” incident, former Arizona Governor Symington III
admitted that he had personally witnessed the massive, “otherworldly” craft. He later moderated a high-profile press conference at the National Press Club alongside military and government officials to advocate for open government dialogue regarding UFOs.
Symington first came forward with his true experience in 2007 during an interview for the documentary Out of the Blue.
- The Sighting: He described seeing a “dramatically large” delta-shaped craft with a distinct leading edge and enormous lights silently navigating over Squaw Peak (now Piestewa Peak).
- Expert Perspective: As a former Air Force officer and pilot, he definitively stated the craft did not resemble any man-made object he had ever seen and was “certainly not high-altitude flares”.
National Press Club Panel
On November 12, 2007, Symington moved from “believer” to advocate by moderating a panel at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C..
- The Panel: He was joined by 14 former high-ranking military and government officials from seven different countries.
- The Goal: The group called for the U.S. government to stop “perpetuating the myth” that all UFOs have conventional explanations and urged the reopening of official investigations. (Nexus News, Views & Features)
