Starting on Thursday evening, March 13, 1997, the skies over Arizona were suddenly filled with orange glowing orbs, reportedly seen by thousands of witnesses. Some also reported triangular objects. Several recorded strange moving lights on video. In recent weeks, several Arizona residents have also reported daylight sightings of disk-shaped craft.
Peter Davenport, director of the Seattle-based National UFO Reporting Center, said on Art Bell's "Coast to Coast" radio program Thursday night that the Center had received numerous reports of triangle objects sighted around Prescott and Paulden, Arizona. Reports were also received from Glendale, Tempe, and Phoenix. There have been three daylight disk sightings in the past 2 weeks over West Phoenix, Davenport said.
Phoenix-based UFO investigator Bill Hamilton forwarded a report to CNI News saying that he went to the home of one Steve Blonder on Thursday evening, March 13, after learning that Blonder had sighted golden-yellow or orange glowing lights over the Gila River Indian Reservation, southwest of Phoenix. Blonder said he and many of his neighbors had sighted this glowing orbs for three nights in a row (March 10, 11 and 12) between 9 and 10pm.
When Hamilton arrived, he was told that Steve and others had already had a sighting that night. Hamilton says that air traffic from the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport was easily distinguished in the night sky. However, looking southwest toward the low hills of the reservation, a glowing light suddenly appeared. Before long, there were five.
"They did not appear to be the color of flares and were not conventional aircraft lights. Through the scope they appeared to be spherical. Four of these formed a horizontal line," Hamilton said.
Phoenix researcher Tom King was also present and shot video of the events for about five minutes, until the glowing lights blinked out one by one.
According to Steve Blonder and others, there is nothing in that part of the Indian reservation that can account for the lights.
Local news reports said that thousands of area residents have seen the glowing orbs in many parts of Arizona in recent days.
"Nearly every news channel in town was running the story as the 'top story' of Phoenix," said Tom King in an email message. "Stations were competing with each other to out-scoop the other station with better footage or witnesses."
In one instance, a pilot taking off from Sky Harbor airport saw a triangular pattern of lights. He called the control tower for information, but airport radar showed nothing present.
A story in the Prescott, Arizona Daily Courier quoted a source as saying that Luke Air Force Base sent two jets Thursday night to intercept the UFOs. The pilots recorded the objects on camera, and returned to base. Allegedly one pilot was shaken, and the base was locked down for the night.
But the Daily Courier was told by Luke Air Force Base media liaison Sgt. Rolla Suttmiller that no aircraft were sent out and there was no lockdown. She said the base received no calls Thursday night regarding UFO sightings. "We do not respond to something like this," she said. "And we do not fly in the evening."
Original file name: CNI - AZ UFOs.edit
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