The Phoenix Lights still a topic of conversation, 22 years later

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- It seems every year, someone else comes forward about seeing what many call the "Phoenix Lights".

What everyone saw in the night sky over Phoenix 22 years ago remains a mystery, but as time goes by, more and more people have come forward to describe what they saw not only that night, but for similar sightings years later as well.

In an interview recorded by his wife, Cheryl, Valley Rock n' Roll celebrity Alice Cooper talked about the night when he saw the lights, while driving through the Arizona desert, three years after the original sightings.

"I got about as far as Blythe, and still in Arizona, and I just happened to notice something out of the corner of my eye," said Cooper.

It was a clear night on March 13, 1997 when thousands who were out to get a glimpse of the Hale-Bopp comet saw something they weren't expecting: a large, triangular shaped aircraft, some described as a mile wide, gliding silently over Phoenix.

"Other folks, I think, like us, repressed it," said Dr. Brad Evans, who is a witness to what is now known as the "Phoenix Lights". "There was nothing to share. We didn't talk to anybody for months."

Many have come forward since the original sighting. One of those people is former Arizona Governor Fife Symington. Actor Kurt Russell has also come forward.

"It was moving. I would say it was probably southwest," said Cooper.

Cooper was driving from Phoenix to Los Angeles.

"I looked up on the left, and it was the same thing everybody saw in 1997," said Cooper.

"Some people saw these things take off at great speed without even dispersing the air," said Phoenix physician Lynne Kitei, who witnessed the Phoenix Lights, but didn't come forward for years later. The sightings would eventually become part of a book called "The Phoenix Lights", as well as a documentary film.

"So many people are afraid to come forward because they are so ostracized," said Kitei.

Kitei discovered Cooper's account just recently, and the full testimony will be shown at a Phoenix Lights documentary that will be shown on Sunday in Scottsdale.

"I watched it and I watched it, and I stopped the car in the middle of the desert," said Cooper. "I called my wife, and I said, 'Cheryl, I am looking at the Phoenix Lights right now.'"

Cooper's sighting in 2000 was just like many of the witness accounts from 1997, and just like other witnesses, Cooper felt a bit uneasy at the sight.

"I am out here all along and I'm watching -- 'Wait a minute. I'm out here all alone. That's not a good idea, if that's what I think it is,'" said Cooper. "Apparently they weren't KISS fans. They didn't abduct me."

The 22nd anniversary celebration of the Phoenix Lights will be held at 1:00 p.m. on March 17, at the Scottsdale Harkins Shea 14 Cinema.

Phoenix Lights Network
https://www.thephoenixlights.net/PL_Home.htm