DURATIONS AND MOTION OF THE TRIANGLE LIGHTS
The lights in the triangle lasted between 4 min 20 sec and 4 min 45 sec.
Analysis of changes in light position with time in the L video shows that
they all dropped several thousand feet while drifting to the east at roughly
40 mph.
The relative locations of these preceding lights are illustrated in the FIGURE 11
which shows the linear array, the far right lights and the light triangle.
All these light arrays were far from the witnesses, at high altitude, and
basically over the northeast portion of the Air Force range, as can be seen
by comparing with FIGURE 13, a map of the Phoenix area which is to the same
scale as FIGURE 10. (To make this comparison you can use a light for
transillumination and overlay FIGURE 10 on FIGURE 13 and align the obvious
roads. Then observe the locations of the lights as compared to the boundaries
of the Air Force test range.)
Figure 11
|
Figure 12
|
Figure 13
|
Figure 14
|
THE LIGHTS OF MARCH 13, 1997
The lights of 10:00 PM March 13, 1997 have been studied in a similar manner.
In this case only the K, L and R videos have been used (P did not see the
March 13 lights). FIGURES 14, 15, 16 and 17 show the light arrays. Two frames
of the K video are shown because the second and third lights at the right
side disappeared before the array was complete.
Figure 15
|
Figure 16
|
Figure 17
|
Figure 18
|
As before, the K and L sighting directions are quite accurate because of
clear geographical reference points that appear in the videos. However, there
is an ambiguity in determining exactly which lights are which in the two
videos because L's videotape shows only three lights (another 3 had disappeared
before L switched on the camera) whereas K' shows a total of 9 which appeared
one after another in the distinctive array. An attempt at correlation by
measuring the times between light extinctions was only slightly successful.
Although one might assume that L videotaped the last three lights visible
in the K or R videos, the fact is that there appears to be no convincing
one-to-one correlation between specific lights in the K and L videos. However,
if one merely assumes that L videotaped several of the lights in the K array
one can determine the general location of the lights.
The R video shows an array that is almost identical to the K video array.
However, as before, it is more ambiguous as to sighting directions because
the reference points are indistinct and the angle calibration of the video
screen depends upon an indistinct image (see discussion above). However,
one can use the January 14, 1998 linear array lights (or the triangle) to
remove some of the direction ambiguity. Specifically, the direction of the
reference feature (roof of a house, see FIGURE 4) has been chosen (as above)
in such a way as to make the sighting line to the left end light of the January
14 linear array pass through the location of the left end light as determined
by the K and L videos (see FIGURES 9 and 10). (In other words, the January
14, 1998 sighting direction data have been used to calibrate the March 13,
1997 data.) The resulting data for lights numbered 1, 2 and 9 (in order of
appearance) are shown below:
The locations of the lights as determined from the above data are very roughly
near, but farther away than, the location of the left hand ,linear array
light discussed above (FIGURE 18). These data clearly point toward lights
that are far from the observers and which are over the Air Force
range.
The size of the array is given by the following estimated distances: between
the first and second lights to appear was about 7.5 miles and between the
second and ninth lights is about 3.7 miles (see FIGURE 18).
