The article below was published in the daily newspaper The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona, on March 9, 2007.
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Betty Reid
Bright lights hung over the Valley a decade ago this month.
Libraries, theaters and college campuses are planning lectures and gatherings to observe the 10th anniversary of the lights. It appears to have sparked renewed discussion about the paranormal life, UFO sightings and aliens.
The "Phoenix Lights" is derived from March 13, 1997, when severalresidents witnessed a string of lights and a large V-shaped formation of lights in the Valley night skies. Military officials explained the wacky lights as training flares, but some people are not convinced.
Much of the activity started in the northwest Valley. Paradise Valley Community College plans a lecture titled "Coincidence or Communication?" on March 28. A similar presentation was given last weekend in Glendale, and others are scheduled around the Valley.
The discussions feature Paradise Valley resident Lynne Kitei, a physician and health educator, who wrote a book about the sightings. She also co-produced an award-winning documentary, "The Phoenix Lights... We Are Not Alone."
Phoenix refuses to stop buzzing about the lights, Kitei said.
"It touched people at a very deep level," Kitei said.
She said her life changed as a result of the Phoenix lights. Kitei put aside her medical career to pursue an answer to her personal sightings outside her own bedroom window.
Despite the mountain of research and data, Kitei said she has not found a logical answer.
"If anything, my research has opened up a whole new world that I never knew existed, and trust that many others do not as well," she said.
Kitei also believes there is renewed interest and curiosity about the unexplained.
At Paradise Valley Community College, Kitei will share an updated version of her documentary followed by a discussion. Ed Rosenthal, an astronomy instructor at PVCC, said the college invited Kitei.
"The purpose of the college is to provide a balance of information to the public so they can be self-reliant to enable them to make sound rational judgment for themselves," Rosenthal said.
