NUFORC Sighting 05034

Occurred: 1998-11-19 21:30 Local
Reported: 1998-11-19 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 0:45
No of observers: 2

Location: Surprise, AZ, USA

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object

Formation of stationary lights - most turning on and off and VERY similar to the infamous March 13 Phoenix sightings

At approximately 9:45 my father, who lives about a half mile from me, called and said he had been watching these lights go on and off for about 10 minutes and that I should meet him outside to check them out. I arrived to see a stationary yellow light (which i'll call the "main" light through the rest of this description) which was at least twice the magnitude of the brightest star in the southern sky. The light was flickering somewhat like a distant light on the horizon would. This light was located pretty much due south from our vantage point (Bell Rd. and Reems Rd.). We watched the light for about 2 minutes and noted some lights on the ground directly below it for reference to see if the light moved east/west and it did not. Soon another identical light appeared slightly below and to the west of the first light. The distance between the 2 was about that of 4 fingers held at arms length. From our location we could also see the lights from Luke AF Base which is about 2 miles east and 6 miles south of us. So this seemed to put the lights about 2 miles west of the base. At this point we jumped in the car and began heading south to the end of Reems Rd. (1 mile south of Luke AFB). During these 7 miles heading south, the main light was straight ahead, just barely west of the center of the road. It went out a few times but came right back on. The second light however now had a few companions right next to it that continued to come on and off in about 1 second intervals - VERY reminiscent of the famous sighting of March 13, which I have seen on video clips many times. The distance between each light in the "set" of lights to the west of the main light was about 1/4 fingers width apart held at arms length. They would turn on and off in random sequence, usually side by side with a slight arc if they had been connected with a line, and at one point came on and off in a sequence which, had they all been on simutaneously, was in the pattern of a greater than symbol. At any one time, there were up to 3 lights on at the same time in the "set". Had they all been on simultaneously there were about 7 or 8 lights total, assuming they were all stationary. As we got to the end of Reems Rd., we headed west about 2-3 miles to Highway ("Loop") 303 and turned back south. At this point, the main light was now slightly to the east of the road. This told us that the light was a lot closer than a star, for example. And by using triangulation, the light main light would be located south and somewhere between these 2 roads. We traveled another 6-8 miles south to Broadway Rd. and stopped and got out of the car. From the time we left the house, it was approximately 30 minutes and the main light had NOT moved, while the others inconsistently but continually came on and off in the same area of the sky. We had travelled a total of about 15 miles south and were still seemingly quite north of them. Finally, the main light disappeared only to reappear about 15 seconds later with another light of the same magnitude RIGHT next to it. Both of these lights then went out. I was low on gas and my dad hadn't even told my mom he was leaving the house so we just left perplexed. We looked back quite a few times but saw nothing. I just want to make it clear that NONE of these lights ever moved. The "set" came on and off way too rapidly and continuosly in the same spot to be flares. As for the main light, I don't know of any flare or plane that could stay in the exact same spot in the sky for 45 minutes. There was no audible sound, no smoke, no activity from the Air Force Base (i.e. no incoming/outgoing aircraft) or anything other than the glowing yellow lights - and the altitude was about that of those in the videos of the March 13 sightings. This whole incident was just remarkably similar to what I saw on those videos. If you would like additional information, please feel free to contact me.

NUFORC Note:

NUFORC: These same lights were observed by many individuals in the general vicinity of Phoenix, AZ, on several nights during mid-November. We have one report that they may have been related to a military exercise, but this assertion is unconfirmed. WE INVITE ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE BEEN WITNESS TO STRANGE LIGHTS AT ABOUT THIS TIME TO SUBMIT DETAILED REPORTS, USING THE ONLINE REPORT FORM ON OUR WEBSITE.

Posted 1999-01-28