PHOENIX - The Associated Press was reporting Tuesday, April 22, that, "Red colored lights that formed a square and then a triangle were seen floating over north Phoenix. The lights were visible for about 13 minutes around 8 p.m. Monday."
The lights then moved to the east, according to witness reports.
Phoenix TV and radio stations as well as the daily newspaper, The Arizona Republic, have posted video and still photos on their Web sites this morning.
The Republic carried the story on the front page of their local "Valley & State" section. The Republic said one of its reporters, Anne Ryman, witnessed the lights and her description is consistent with other witness accounts.
The Republic also reported that one witness says he saw three jets flying in the direction of the unusual lights.
Although the lights are now rumored to have been a prank by a local resident - attaching flares to balloons linked by fishing line - the Deer Valley area has a history of strange lights and phenomena.
OFFICIALS AND MEDIA
Phoenix residents didn't say that they saw flying saucers or big-eyed ET visitors, but simply reported they saw four red lights. The media did a responsible job in reporting on this thoroughly and with credibility.
According to the Web site of the CBS TV affiliate in Phoenix, KPHO, channel 5, "Phoenix police and media outlets were flooded with calls Monday night" after residents saw the strange lights.
One witness estimated that the lights were at an altitude of approximately 3,000 feet.
Personnel at a local airport located northeast of the intersection of I-17 and the Loop 101 observed the lights.
According to the AP report, "KSAZ-TV, a local Fox affiliate in Phoenix, reported that officials from Phoenix Deer Valley Airport saw the lights approximately 4 miles south of the airport and that the lights were rising as they watched."
Officials at Luke Air Force Base, located on the far west side of metropolitan Phoenix's "Valley of the Sun," told news media representatives that none of their jets were in the sky last night.
Personnel at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport also could not explain the lights, according to news reports.
The FAA and Phoenix Police were contacted by the news media and also were not able to explain the lights.
According to various news reports, dozens of people saw the red lights and stated they appeared to be in a diamond shape, changing to a square shape.
One of the videos, taken by resident Tony Toporek, seems to show a diamond shape. His video is posted on the Phoenix ABC affiliate's Web site, ABC15.com.
Local talk radio station KTAR reported that, "Dozens of listeners" called the station "just after 8 p.m. reporting they were watching the four mystery lights."
KTAR's Web site quoted FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor as saying "A lot of people were reporting seeing some strange lights in the sky around Phoenix last night. Air traffic controllers at the control tower at Sky Harbor saw them. But, we have no idea what they were. It could be aliens coming down to save us from ourselves, you never know. The only thing I do know is if they were coming down, they weren't talking to air traffic controllers."
A reporter from the ABC channel 15 TV station, Christopher Sign, appeared on the Coast to Coast AM national radio program late last night with the breaking news.
DEER VALLEY A HOT SPOT?
The lights spotted last night bring to mind the well-known March 13, 1997, incident when hundreds or thousands of Phoenix residents witnessed huge lights and a massive triangle, wedge or boomerang-shaped solid object drift slowly and silently over Phoenix at a relatively low altitude in mid-evening.
However, many people may not know that the Deer Valley area has been the site of other anomalous lights over the years, according to local residents and researchers.
While the red lights last night were spotted east of I-17, the area to the west near the Hedgpeth Hills has also been the site of unusual lights.
From the intersection of the Loop 101 and I-17 northwest to the area around Sandra Day O'Connor High School north of West Happy Valley Road, local residents have been seeing unusual lights for many years.
The area is also known to have ancient Hohokam Native American sites, the most familiar being the location of petroglyphs and pictographs - "rock art" - created by ancient indigenous people of the area that are now part of the Deer Valley Rock Art Center.
The rock art center museum includes an outdoor nature trail where ancient images created on a nearby hill can be viewed. Center guides are available to answer questions.
The Deer Valley Rock Art Center is coordinated through the Arizona State University School of Human Evolution & Social Change.
This area is regarded as sacred by several tribes.
