# Arizona Lights main debunking points **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889 "2009-03-26T18:06:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jakesteele](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@jakesteele](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jakesteele)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/1 "2009-03-26T18:06:06Z")
I am having a lively discourse with a friend of mine about the Arizona Lights incident and, as a result of information overload, I am trying to come up with the main debunking points about this sighting. I am looking for something like a ‘cliff notes’ version so I can then go and look each one up separately for a more in-depth study. I have heard of Phil Plait as one of the main guys guys that dealt with this and I also had a really great sight bookmarked but somehow lost it. Any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/2 "2009-03-26T18:29:06Z")
Phil Plait’s website is [Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy: Home Page](http://www.badastronomy.com/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/3 "2009-03-26T22:30:59Z")
I saw a show on this (on the History Channel?), which convincingly explained it to me. They superimposed the nighttime video of the lights over a daytime shot from the same spot, and the lights disappeared as they went behind distant hills. Or are you talking about the triangle sighting? > **[Phoenix Lights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_lights)** > > The Phoenix Lights (sometimes called the "Lights Over Phoenix") were a series of widely sighted unidentified flying objects observed in the skies over the southwestern states of Arizona and Nevada on March 13, 1997. > Lights of varying descriptions were seen by thousands of people between 7:30 pm and 10:30 pm MST, in a space of about 300 miles (480 km), from the Nevada line, through Phoenix, to the edge of Tucson. Some witnesses described seeing what appeared to be a huge carpenter's square-shaped... ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/4 "2009-03-26T22:36:35Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I saw a show on this (on the History Channel?), which convincingly explained it to me. They superimposed the nighttime video of the lights over a daytime shot from the same spot, and the lights disappeared as they went behind distant hills. I think I saw this show or a similar one years ago. The daytime shot makes it so utterly obvious what happened that I cannot even fathom there is still any controversy about it. It’s like hearing there are still people who don’t know where the sun goes at night. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/5 "2009-03-26T23:12:36Z")
I saw a similar show years ago. [This](http://home.comcast.net/~tprinty/UFO/azvideo.htm) part with image “expert” Jim Dilleteso had me rolling in the floor. Click the last link on that page for the full treatment of the Phoenix Lights. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/6 "2009-03-27T00:18:59Z")
Based on my time at Ft. Hood watching the artillery ranges at night, the first time I saw video of the “Arizona Lights” I immediately recognized them as parachute flares. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/7 "2009-03-27T00:21:53Z")
The main debunking point is that it’s less likely to be alien or supernatural than it is to have a natural explanation. If your friend does not accept that, you are essentially wasting your time convincing him otherwise. The personalities that accept these sorts of things as likely to be alien or supernatural are the same type of personalities who accept conspiracy theories. You will not change his mind, and every alternate explanation will be seen as part of a conspiracy to cover it up, or a reflection of the weak-minded blindness of the sheeple. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/8 "2009-03-27T04:42:37Z")
The “V-shaped object”: [http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/ufos-over-phoenix-the-v-shaped-object.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/ufos-over-phoenix-the-v-shaped-object.html) ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/9 "2009-03-27T15:32:46Z")
\>The personalities that accept these sorts of things as likely to be alien or supernatural are the same type of personalities who accept conspiracy theories. THIS. I think its a form of vanity. These people have this attitude: “You sheeple dont know what I know about insert\_crazy\_theory\_here. insert\_crazy\_rant\_here.” They pat themselves on the back on how much they can see through the BS “the man” is giving them. Its very difficult to teach skepticism and logic to someone this fargone. They live in a world of conspiracies. I’d just let it go and hope that our schools are doing a better job teaching these basic concepts to the younger generation. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arizona-lights-main-debunking-points/490889/10 "2009-03-27T15:38:41Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > The “V-shaped object”: > > [http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/ufos-over-phoenix-the-v-shaped-object.html](http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/ufos-over-phoenix-the-v-shaped-object.html) Ah sweet. If you click “Identifying Light Sources,” that’s the video of what I was talking about earlier.