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Article by Brian Thompson
Brian Thompson is a professor of amateur science at a major imaginary university and a regular blogger at CHUD. He has been able to read and write for over seventeen years. 7 Comments
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Amateur indeed. You obviously didn’t read the Phoenix Lights book by well respected physician and acclaimed international educator, Dr. Kitei, a tremendous effort to detail what REALLY happened throughout Arizona on that fateful night, the history of these unexplained phenomena, and the similar worldwide events. Like those who are closed minded and get off on berating others to feel comfortable with the reality that we are not alone in the Universe(as the Vatican recently announced and other countries are coming forward to confirm at record numbers), you have obviously fed into all the media hype and debunking that came after the sighting.
It amazes me how gullible people who are looking for a logical explanation can be. On the other hand, Dr. K took seven years to document, study, investigate and finally come forward from anonymity to share her findings. After hearing her present her riveting (and scientifically analyzed) information personally, she is far from deranged.
Are you aware that there was only ONE report out of thousands by the teen you mention who stated that the lights were planes? Are you suggesting that thousands (including police officers, military, air traffic controllers, teachers, doctors, University professors, etc.) were also “crazy”?
The military flare explanation came months later when they were pressured for an investigation and explanation by the international media, witnesses and even the Vice Mayor. Add that to the fact that the ANG announced a reenactment three years after the mass sighting, but ended up scraping their lame deployment the next day, after becoming a laughing stock to witnesses and media alike. Their ‘flare’ display was NOTHING like the real lights or craft. It is quite evident that something spectacular and still unexplained happened throughout Arizona on March 13, 1997.
But don’t take my word for it, look at the “Anatomy of a Sighting” program alone and you will see clearly that they ALTERED the original footage of the boomerang craft to conform to the mountain range, making the case for flares.
Very easy to blow off serious reporting and research when you never witnessed the event yourself, but rather feed into the clever debunking tactics, as many have since this important sighting. You are not alone.
My favorite line of this article:
(I can call him “Ed” because I don’t know him and am disrespectful)
you rock Brian!
As someone who was there and saw the lights I have to say that they really looked like a bunch of flares (though nothing like a safety road flare which may be adding to some people’s confusion.)
Of course, I’m a non-native so I didn’t grow up in Phoenix baking my brain in 110 degree heat during my formative years, so that may add to the sane and rational response to this terrestrial oddity.
@Dr. Benjamin Lewis: Debunking a sighting isn’t the same as debunking the existence of extraterrestrials. It’s not the same as debunking the entire idea that extraterrestrials have been here. Accepting that aliens exist certainly does not mean that one has to accept every single sighting. It baffles me that there is this contingent of people out there who insist that I must not only believe, but must believe every sighting. Fittingly, those people tend to cling to events like the Phoenix Lights and Denver’s alien peeping tom.
Oh, Mr. Lewis. How easy can you make my job?
Answer: This easy.
1) Dr. Kitei’s credentials as a physician and educator don’t lend any authority to her conclusions as an investigator of aerial phenomena and more than my credentials as a liberal arts major and former video store clerk qualify me to perform lapband surgery. Doesn’t stop me, though!
2) The Vatican didn’t announce that we’re not alone in the universe, and neither did any other country. The priests and cardinals of Rome simply stated that the existence of extraterrestrials wouldn’t violate scripture. Of course there are aliens out there. Some may have even visited Earth, though I doubt we’re interesting enough to bother. But no aliens ever took it upon themselves to travel to Arizona and blink at you. Here’s a bandage for your ego.
3) Dr. Kitei’s book could only be described as “riveting” if your standards of interest include spitting off bridges and trying to shove corks in your eyes. Both of these activities are as scientifically stimulating.
4) It’s very easy to claim there’s no evidence of your assertions because people “altered” the footage. I actually gave Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, but they digitally inserted some black guy! What was that all about?
5) It’s not at all easy to blow off serious reporting and research. It is incredibly easy, however, to blow off your sources. Fun, even.
6) Just how is this “sighting” so important? The world has accepted that it was a case of mistaken identity. The aliens haven’t announced themselves. Aside from the existence of the Bush administration, life has gone on as normal. If ETs were responsible for this event, they didn’t pull off anything more substantial than forking the neighbor’s yard. Those pesky aliens!
Oh, Gawd, when will this Phoenix Lights nonsense end!! Please, please, PLEASE believe that there are sane people in Arizona. I am sick to death of the Dr. Kitei's of the world. I cannot wait for the the day when this non-event goes by the way of the Bermuda Triangle and the Eric von Daniken nonsense about ancient astronauts.
Wanna read something great AND well-researched, Mr. Benjamin Lewis, try these two sites:
http://members.aol.com/tprinty/azconc.html
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1998-03-05/news/th…
I love Mr. Lewis' admiration for Dr. Kitei's qualifications to investigate this "event". Tell me Mr. Lewis, what experience does this physician have in air traffic control, night vision, night observation, being able to determing size altitude, speed, direction of objects in the air. I could go on, but why bother? AmateurScientist said it best.
Keep up the good work. By the way, I have lived in Phoenix my whole life. It is currently 110 degrees outside while I write this. How have I prevented cranial baking? I stay indoors fromMay to November.
Cheers, everyone!!!
Is Lynne Kitei really a doctor? I can find only brief, cursory statements about her career in medicine, and absolutely nothing about her medical training. She sounds to me like a crackpot who gave herself the title of “doctor” to lend herself more credibility.