[CNI News thanks Bill Hamilton for sending this story. Bill, a well-known UFO researcher in Phoenix, Arizona, can be emailed at: bhamilto@pcshs.com]
The Arizona Republic newspaper announced on May 21, 1997 that Phoenix Councilwoman Frances Emma Barwood, who recently asked city staff to look into reports of bright lights in the city's March skies, received the staff's finding: The city doesn't have an air force, so there isn't much to tell.
"Since the city does not have resources or expertise to investigate the source of lights such as those that were reported, we depend on the United States Air Force to investigate all such matters," a three-paragraph report to Barwood states.
Luke Air Force Base officials, however, said they do not plan to investigate.
Barwood said, "It's still amazing to me that no one seems to be that concerned. There definitely was something there. As to what it was, I don't have a clue. I'm kind of an open-minded skeptic." Barwood says that she has received more than 50 calls.
"They all describe the same thing," she said. The callers all reported something that was huge and made no noise.
The mayor, Skip Rimsza, continues to poke fun at Barwood, saying things like, "Frances sees little green men."
Barwood still doesn't understand why such a fuss was made when she asked city staff to look into the matter. The city should get to the bottom of what exactly was flying around the city's skies that night, she says. "It could have done damage to antennas or something."
Meanwhile, Channel 15 News incorrectly reported that the local MUFON investigators now agree with the National Guard that the lights seen were flares. Actually, they are saying only the stationary lights that were video-taped south of the city were flares. But military experts on flares have stated that these lights were NOT flares and one electro-optical engineer is setting out to prove it. Will the local MUFON soon have egg on its face?
In the words of local UFO researcher Bill Hamilton, "All analysis so far shows that NONE of the sightings on the night of March 13 over the state of Arizona have been explained and [they] remain unidentified, unconventional, and unknown."
Original file name: CNI - AZ.Barwood put down
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