By Melissa Rosequist | Daily Independent
Imagine spotting something in the sky that doesn’t look like an airplane or anything you’ve seen before. What is it?
This is a question thousands of people have asked themselves as they gaze into the sky with wonderment.
Are unidentified flying objects real?
Judging by their popularity in pop culture and society, along with the number of UFO sightings reported in Arizona recently and historically, it’s hard to deny many people do believe in UFOs. Perhaps, people are just more comfortable admitting they believe in the extraterrestrials.
In 1997, a now well-known “Phoenix Lights” event took place that again put the Valley and Arizona in the center of the search for extraterrestrial visitation. Between 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. on March 13, 1997, in a space of about 300 miles — from the Nevada line, through Phoenix to the edge of Tucson. Multiple people reported seeing various lights, with some witnesses describing what appeared to be a huge carpenter’s square-shaped UFO containing five spherical lights.
There were two supposed sightings, which were later to be caused by pilot training programs. One of the Air National Guard based in Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson and a second at the Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona.
More than 25 years later, that mass UFO event continues to attract attention — in large part thanks to Paradise Valley resident Dr. Lynne Kitei, a witness and documentarian to the sighting. Kitei now runs the Phoenix Lights Network, has written a bestselling book, published an award-winning film on the event and continues to do public events and speaking engagements on her experience.
For Kitei, there is a vast amount of information not in the public realm, as well as disinformation about what took place over Arizona all those years ago.
Along with thousands of first-hand witnesses who reported light arrays and silent mile-wide craft, as well as optical experts. She rejects the notion what she saw, and has analyzed photographs of, were flares from military training.
“If the military did it, show me,” said Kitei. “Reenact it, do it again. Right before the third anniversary — three air national guard units came to town to show everyone the Phoenix Lights and failed. To date, the Phoenix Lights have never been recreated or explained, but they continue to appear worldwide.”
Sightings abound
UFO lore in Arizona goes beyond one single event. Supposed sightings are somewhat common. The video app TikTok is home to numerous UFO “sightings” — one coming out of Buckeye, posted on Feb. 2.
According to the National UFO Reporting Center, there have been 4,805 reported sightings of UFOs in the state since the mid 1970s. Out of 50 states, Arizona ranks ninth for amount of reported sightings — first place is California.
The most recent reported UFO sighting to the national center was on April 7 in Scottsdale. The report says it lasted 20 minutes, and the witness wrote: “It looked segmented, very flashy, as it randomly had the sun flashing off of it. Two segments aligned vertically.”
This Scottsdale report is one of 25 found on the reporting center’s website for 2023 in Arizona. The National UFO Reporting Center makes no claims as to the validity of the information in any of the posted reports, the website clarifies, adding that “obvious hoaxes have been omitted,” however most reports have been posted exactly as received in the author’s own words.
While UFOs have historically been denied by government officials, they have become a part of mainstream American culture. They can be used in marketing to draw consumers in. There are books, children’s movies, documentaries, beers, events, public attractions — countless things — all aligning themselves with aliens, UFOs and outer space culture.
Locally, Arizona Boardwalk near Scottsdale is hosting a UFO Experience exploring both the human and science fiction sides of extraterrestrial encounters and UFOs.
Kitei says some of the pop culture popularity can be attributed to the topic no longer being considered taboo.
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