As many as 5 large, bright orange lights seen hovering near Ak-Chin Casino south of Maricopa, Arizona.
When I walked outside to join my girlfriend on our back porch at approximately 8pm local time tonight, Monday January 14, 2013, she said, "I just saw a bunch of orange lights, hovering out by the casino." I replied, "Yeah, sure you did." I sat with her, lit a cigarette and about a minute or two later, they appeared again.
At first, two lights appeared almost simultaneously, followed by two more lights a minute later and a fifth not long after. The lights were a deep orange, a color I don’t ever recall seeing on an aircraft, and the size of the lights was much greater than that I have ever seen on any aircraft, as well.
The moon was clearly visible, as were many stars on this clear evening, and while they were much smaller than any moon I have ever seen, they were also much larger than any star I have ever seen.
We spend a LOT of time on our back porch and see aircraft every day, both during the day and at night. Having been stationed at NAS Fallon, NV for 3 years, I’ve seen many aircraft, and these lights appeared and behaved like no aircraft I have ever seen before.
From the time I first saw them, there were from one to five lights at between 180 and 200 degrees from our location, and in my opinion they were no more than two or three thousand feet above ground level. Angle of elevation was very slight, maybe 15 or 20 degrees at most.
The lights were almost stationary, but comparing their positions with fixed objects on the ground, they WERE moving very slowly. They never appeared to change elevation during the 20-30 minutes in which they were visible. Having spent two years aboard USS OAK HILL as a part of the Navigation/Administration department, I spent many hours on the bridge wings, taking bearings of fixed objects ashore to triangulate our position, and there are many lights on the ground in the direction these lights were, making it easy to determine if they were moving. They WERE moving, but hardly at all.
The light were generally moving from right to left looking almost due south, BUT while the lights often appeared as pairs, these pairs were constantly moving in relation to one another. At one point, two of the lights appeared to merge, and then separate as if one was moving slightly faster than the other.
According to Flight Service Station Phoenix, winds were either northerly or northeasterly, but it was stated that this was for elevations between 3,000 and 34,000 feet and these lights were lower than that, in my estimation.
About 5 minutes after alerting our next-door neighbors, the lights disappeared and did not return.
When I walked outside to join my girlfriend on our back porch at approximately 8pm local time tonight, Monday January 14, 2013, she said, "I just saw a bunch of orange lights, hovering out by the casino." I replied, "Yeah, sure you did." I sat with her, lit a cigarette and about a minute or two later, they appeared again.
At first, two lights appeared almost simultaneously, followed by two more lights a minute later and a fifth not long after. The lights were a deep orange, a color I don’t ever recall seeing on an aircraft, and the size of the lights was much greater than that I have ever seen on any aircraft, as well.
The moon was clearly visible, as were many stars on this clear evening, and while they were much smaller than any moon I have ever seen, they were also much larger than any star I have ever seen.
We spend a LOT of time on our back porch and see aircraft every day, both during the day and at night. Having been stationed at NAS Fallon, NV for 3 years, I’ve seen many aircraft, and these lights appeared and behaved like no aircraft I have ever seen before.
From the time I first saw them, there were from one to five lights at between 180 and 200 degrees from our location, and in my opinion they were no more than two or three thousand feet above ground level. Angle of elevation was very slight, maybe 15 or 20 degrees at most.
The lights were almost stationary, but comparing their positions with fixed objects on the ground, they WERE moving very slowly. They never appeared to change elevation during the 20-30 minutes in which they were visible. Having spent two years aboard USS OAK HILL as a part of the Navigation/Administration department, I spent many hours on the bridge wings, taking bearings of fixed objects ashore to triangulate our position, and there are many lights on the ground in the direction these lights were, making it easy to determine if they were moving. They WERE moving, but hardly at all.
The light were generally moving from right to left looking almost due south, BUT while the lights often appeared as pairs, these pairs were constantly moving in relation to one another. At one point, two of the lights appeared to merge, and then separate as if one was moving slightly faster than the other.
According to Flight Service Station Phoenix, winds were either northerly or northeasterly, but it was stated that this was for elevations between 3,000 and 34,000 feet and these lights were lower than that, in my estimation.
About 5 minutes after alerting our next-door neighbors, the lights disappeared and did not return.
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Maricopa
USA
30:00
30:00
32.99
-111.96
light
AZ
Occurred : 1/14/2013 20:00 (Entered as : 011413 20:00) Reported: 1/14/2013 9:09:21 PM 21:09 Posted: 2/4/2013 Location: Maricopa, AZ Shape: Light Duration: 30:00
As many as 5 large, bright orange lights seen hovering near Ak-Chin Casino south of Maricopa, Arizona.