Friday, February 22, 2008

UFOs Over Phoenix - Partial Review

Discovery Channel - Original Air Date: 1997?

I just caught a few minutes of this recently, though I've seen the full show in the past.  The part I saw that's worth noting is the show's dramatic and convincing explanation for the 10pm (I believe) set of Phoenix Lights: they were flares.  UFOlogists reject this idea out of hand, but the show has a demonstration that the "winking out" of the lights coincides with them disappearing behind a mountain range.  This is accomplished by aligning the original "UFO" footage with daytime footage taken in the same spot.  You can literally see the lights going behind the mountain--which means they weren't over the city, but were on the other side of the range, where the military was conducting exercises (and dropping flares).  I don't remember whether the show had an explanation for the earlier sightings of V-shaped craft (probably not), but the footage you always see of this incident -- on Larry King, for instance --  is definitely flares.  UFOlogists don't do themselves any favors when they ignore conclusive proof like this; it makes them look like kooks.  It also wastes time and resources that could be spent on investigating actual, unexplained incidents.

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