What was the ‘Phoenix Lights’ incident of 1997?

(NewsNation) — Arizona is renowned as a UAP hotspot, and NewsNation visited Phoenix to investigate arguably the biggest mass sighting in U.S. history.

Arizona physician Dr. Lynne Kitei was one of many to witness the famed “Phoenix Lights” incident on March 13, 1997.

In the years since, Kitei has spent her time making a scientific case that what happened defies logical explanation.

Thousands of witnesses across hundreds of miles reported anomalous objects in the sky. According to Kitei, some saw either V-shaped, boomerang-shaped or triangle-shaped objects in the sky.

She told NewsNation there were between 10,000 and 20,000 witnesses on that night in 1997. Despite what Kitei and others believed they saw, not everyone was convinced.

Then-Gov. Fife Symington held a media conference where his chief of staff was dressed as a Martian.

 “Let me just say that I believe it is a serious offense for anyone, be it human, space alien, or otherwise, to engage in mysterious activity in our nighttime skies,” Symington said at the press conference.

In 2007, Symington admitted that the conference was a strategic ploy rather than a reflection of his honest feelings and experiences.

“What I was trying to do was have fun and make a spoof, and stop all the public hysteria that was going on at the time,” he said, via ABC News.

Symington believes that on the night of the “Phoenix Lights,” he saw something otherworldly.

“When I saw it, I said this is definitely a UFO. I have never seen anything like this in my life,” he said via the outlet.