On March 13, 1997, at night, around 10:00 pm, an unusual phenomenon was seen above the city of Phoenix, State of Arizona. It was witnessed by people in the hundreds, some of them were even able to record it on video.

The witnesses reported that they saw a "ball of light" appearing over the mountains near Phoenix. Other lights detached from this ball, and only to be almost re-aligned with the first one, in an even fashion. Eventually, there were seven stationary lights exhibiting different and variable intensities. The whole phenomenon lasted for several minutes.

The observations were not limited to the city of Phoenix and the above phenomenon. In Scottsdale, two witnesses taped light patterns arranged as a triangle, or a "V". This phenomenon passed over them in a very slow motion. This occurred on March 13, 1997, at 8:28 pm. The same witnesses also observed and taped the Phoenix lights from Cave Creek Road in Scottsdale. 

Air traffic controllers at the Phoenix airport also observed the phenomenon, but they reported only visual contact. No data was recorded on radar.

Close to Phoenix, to the west of the city, is the Luke Air Force Base (AFB - or Luke AFB ? 56th Wing fighter equipped with F-16 planes. Luke AFB also hosts a training center for NATO pilots). The military authorities at Luke AFB were also questioned. First, they said that nothing anomalous occurred and they remained mute.

Only a few months later, the military released their own version of the events: the "Phoenix lights" resulted from a released of "flares" in the course of an exercise. Flares are decoys consisting in a light- and heat-emitting device. They are intended to fool air-to-air missiles fitted with an infra-red guidance system.

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