3/13/97 - Many witnesses, Paulden, Prescott, and Pheonix AZ, 8:16PM

Report Summary	"8:16 PM... a retired police officer in Paulden, 60 mi N of Phoenix... reported a cluster of 5 red lights headed south..." 8:18PM "a call arrived from Prescott, 15 mi south of Paulden... described one red and four white lights..." "... the most common description was that of a V-shaped object. It had seven lights, three on each prong of the V and a seventh 'trailing light' set apart from the others. Occasionally some of the lights blinked out... "it made no sound... it moved slowly over Phoenix, cruising at 30 mph. Several times it hovered in place in the sky... "Pilots... asked air traffic controllers to identify the lights, but... although controllers could see the lights, they say nothing showed up on their radar screens." "Dana Valentine, 31, was sitting in his yard in Phoenix when the lights headed his way... the lights passed 500 feet directly above them. "'We could see the outline of a mass behind the lights, but you couldn't actually see the mass... It was more like a gray distortion of the night sky, wavy." "Tim... Ley [said] 'You couldn't actually see the object. All you could see was the outline as though something were blotting out the stars... [He] found the lights extraordinary. 'They weren't bulbs... they looked like gas. There was a distortion on the surface. Also, the light didn't spill out or shine. I've never seen a light like that.'"[footnote 1]
Hynek Classification	NL
Original Vallee Classification	Type IIIb, Type IV a/c, Type V
Current Vallee Classification	FB1
Minimum Distance	500 feet (estimated by witness, unknown accuracy)
Object Appearance	Formation of 7 lights with suggestion of supporting structure. Lights varied in brightness and body appeared to be not completely opaque. "4-5 red lights "in the lead," followed by a single light which appeared to be 'standing back from the others.' The lights in the lead gave the impression of being in a "V" formation, somewhat like a wedge or boomerang in shape."[footnote 2] "The next calls received were from the vicinities of Prescott and Prescott Valley, approximately 50 miles north of Phoenix. Several individuals called from that vicinity to recount that approximately 8:17 p.m., they witnessed 4 or 5 very bright white lights pass overhead. Several of the observers reported that the object appeared to be triangular in shape, with a somewhat complex grouping of lights along its sides."[footnote 3]
Object Behavior	Hovered for an extended period. "Everything I had read stated the craft slowly flew over Phoenix and once again slowly drifted away. Mr. Ley states the v-shaped craft shot into view travelling at mach 1 or higher before coming to a halt over his and wife's head."[footnote 4] "...before the object disappeared from sight to the south, it appeared to "fire" out to the front of it a red beam of "laser light" for an instant. Then, as it moved slowly to the south, the lights of the front and sides of the object seemed to dim and fade from sight. There were no lights visible on the aft end of the craft as it moved away from the observers. The object just disappeared from sight in the southern sky…"[footnote 5]
Physical Effect	None
Medical Effect	None
Comments / Conclusion	Most of the videotapes are attributed to flares on the basis of photogrammetry. The other sightings remain unexplained.

Footnotes

1. USA Today, 6/18/97, p 4A

2. National UFO Reporting Center, http://www.nwlink.com/~ufocntr/CB970313.html, initial retired police officer report

3. National UFO Reporting Center, http://www.nwlink.com/~ufocntr/CB970313.html, secondary reports

4. http://www.shadowmag.com/extra_1.htm (possibly from Skywatch International)

5. National UFO Reporting Center, http://www.nwlink.com/~ufocntr/CB970313.html, final reports