I used to think the 1997 Phoenix Lights were just military flares until I saw the raw FAA radar data.

I was at a conference in Tempe last year and a retired air traffic controller showed the unedited feed from Sky Harbor's approach control that night. The object on screen moved against the wind at over 400 knots and made a 90-degree turn, which flares physically cannot do. That single piece of evidence flipped my whole view. Has anyone else dug into the primary radar records from that incident?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige4271mo ago

That 90-degree turn at 400 knots is what gets me. I saw a documentary that said military flares basically just drift with the wind after they're dropped. For something that big to change direction like that, it would need some serious control (or physics we don't get). I always wrote it off too, but that radar detail is hard to argue with.

thomas.tyler1mo ago

Exactly, that 90-degree turn is the key detail. Flares just can't do that, they have no steering at all. It really does point to something under intelligent control.

carr.gavin14d ago

Huh, but what about birds flying in formation at night?