The Phoenix Lights | Marks Unexplained World Podcast Extra On the 13th of March 1997, Between the hours of There were two distinct events involved in the incident: a triangular formation of lights seen to pass over the state and a series of stationary lights seen in the Phoenix area.The United States Air Force identified the second group of lights as flares dropped by an A-10 Warthog aircraft that was on training exercises at the Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona. Witnesses claimed to have observed a huge square-shaped UFO containing five spherical lights or possibly light-emitting engines. The governor of Arizona, Fife Symington, years later, said he witnessed this incident, describing the object as being "otherworldly."