New Times Staff Night from p 18 According to Shane Hurd, the stars were aligned for a mass sighting the night of the Phoenix Lights. Shane Hurd, assistant state director, Arizona MUFON: There have always been a lot of reports of UFO sightings here in Arizona. I think some of the reasons might be because we have clear skies and, when the weather's good, people are out a lot more. So there's more opportunities for some- thing to be seen. Dr. Lynne Kitei, director and executive producer, The Phoenix Lights Documentary: My husband and I have a house nestled in the mountains by the [Arizona Biltmore Resort] and have these good, clear views of the Valley. In 1995, I managed to get a strip of 35mm photos of these oval orbs I saw arranged like a pyramid outside of our home. And then in January, two months before the mass [sighting], I filmed this mile-wide group of six lights hovering in the distance at 1,000 feet over the Class B restricted airspace of [Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport]. Hurd: In the spring of 1997, there were a lot of people outside at night looking at the Hale-Bopp comet. Claude Haynes, East Valley Astronomy Club: Hale-Bopp was one of the last big monster comets. It was easily visible to the naked eye and there was a lot of interest, so many people were skywatching. Hurd: That time of year, there's baseball, Little League, soccer, and softball. It was a weeknight and all these people were outside doing something. There wasn’t much of a moon at that point. So it was the right sort of circumstances for thousands to see a UFO. 20 The first sightings of what would become known as the Phoenix Lights happened nowhere near the Valley. A V-shaped object as big as a 747 was spotted 285 miles to the northwest over Henderson, Nevada, at approximately 7:55 p.m. It then reportedly headed southeast, crossing Arizona in less than 40 minutes. Sightings were made along the way in places like Paulden (where a retired police officer saw a “cluster of six or seven lights”), Chino Valley, and Prescott. By 8:30 p.m., it hit metro Phoenix. Sightings An artist’s depiction of the triangular craft from a video in the Arizona Heritage Museum “Phoenix Lights” exhibit. increased exponentially, although details began to differ. Eyewitness accounts of the first group of lights are generally the same: A series of lights in a chevron or boomerang pattern were seen slipping silently through the Valley skies from the northwest to the south- east. Some say it was high in the air. Others claim it was only hovering a short distance above. Multiple witnesses describe seeing an underlying structure, while others say that wasn’t the case. The lights also differed in color, quantity, movement, or brilliance, depending on who tells the story. People’s reactions during these encounters also differed, ranging from eerie to awestruck. A few experienced a certain feeling of serenity. Some freaked out. Hurd: It’s not atypical, even with some of the cases we investigate. And if you have the good fortune to have multiple witnesses, they're often slightly different. David Sankey, Tempe resident: Me and my friend Aaron were cruising down [U.S. Highway 60] taking two female friends home from out in Apache Junction to all the way up to 32nd Street and Shea [Boulevard]. We were probably around Alma School [Road] or McClintock [Drive] when the female friend in the front passenger seat said, "Hey, what the fuck is that?" It was out the right side of the car. We saw these lights and were all looking at each other like, "Is this really happening?" It’s like something out of E.T. or an alien movie where they make contact. Steffany Dubois, Phoenix resident: We have a cabin in Camp Creek and were driving up Seven Springs Road on our way there. It was me, my son, who was really little, and my dad, and [the lights] were just there. It couldn't have been higher than the [high-tension] power lines. We stopped in the middle of the road to check it out. Whatever it was, there were six lights in a triangle and you couldn't see the body. I don't know how long we sat there. And then it was just gone. Disappeared. Lights out. Jon Vanderlin, Tempe resident: I was about 7 and we were swimming in >> p 23 MARCH 10TH– MARCH 16TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
