Thread: Lights 'not of this world' mystery finally solved

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=53936 -
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PHOTONETDAILY
Lights 'not of this world' mystery finally solved
Air Force reveals weapons tests that sparked global UFO frenzy

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Posted: January 24, 2007
9:22 p.m. Eastern

Editor's note: WND's Joe Kovacs will appear on KTOK Newsradio in Oklahoma City Thursday morning at 8:05 a.m. Eastern to discuss this story. It can be heard at 1000 on the AM dial or online at KTOK.com.
By Joe Kovacs
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com



Zoomed image of mysterious orange light seen Jan. 9 near Van Buren, Ark. (photo: Col. Brian Fields, USAF, ret.)

Mysterious lights in the sky witnessed and photographed by an Air Force colonel who described them as "not of this world" apparently have an explanation of this Earth after all, WND can reveal.


LUU-2 flare deploys parachute to float slowly to Earth

The strange illuminations seen Jan. 9 over western Arkansas came from special military flares that slowly parachuted to the ground as part of an Air Force training mission involving A-10 aircraft pilots at nearby Fort Chaffee, a base used by the military for testing weaponry.

"We were flying A-10s in that area and they were using flares," Jessica D'Aurizio, chief of public affairs at the 917th Wing of the Air Force Reserve at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, told WND.

She says the flares, which stay lit for about five minutes, produce nearly 2 million candlepower.

"It brightens up the target area," D'Aurizio said. "They go down in parachutes, so they're very bright. That had to be what it was, I'm sure."

(Story continues below)


As WND exclusively reported last week, F-16 fighter pilot Col. Brian Fields, now retired at 61, was at his Van Buren, Ark., home Jan. 9 when just before 7 p.m., he observed two intensely bright lights as he looked to the southeast close to the horizon.


Zoomed image of mysterious yellow light seen Jan. 9 near Van Buren, Ark. (photo: Col. Brian Fields)

"At first I thought they were landing lights from an aircraft," he said. "As I continued to observe them they began to slowly disappear, then suddenly one reappeared, followed by two, then three. On at least one occasion four or five appeared. Each time they would slowly fade and eventually disappear. This occurred several times and when they would reappear they might do so in differing numbers and in different positions, sometimes in a triangular shape, sometimes stacked on top of each other, sometimes line abreast, etc. When the objects appeared they might stay illuminated 10 or more minutes."


Mysterious yellow lights in triangular formation seen Jan. 9 near Van Buren, Ark. The red lights at right are from a local broadcasting tower (photo: Col. Brian Fields)


He added, "I believe these lights were not of this world, and I feel a duty and responsibility to come forward."

Lt. Col. Pete Gauger, executive staff officer at the 188th Fighter Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard, confirmed A-10s were on the Fort Chaffee bombing range dropping suspended flares at the time Fields documented the lights some five to ten degrees above the horizon.

"They would drop multiple flares," he said. "That probably solves your mystery. It's beyond coincidence."


A-10 aircraft similar to this were used in a pilot-training mission Jan. 9 in western Arkansas


Gauger said WND's initial report caused a lot of interest among media outlets, especially after being featured on the Drudge Report.

"It was widely read," he said. "I read it, and I didn't immediately tie it in [to the training]."

Fort Chaffee, which is run by the Arkansas Army National Guard, is situated on approximately 61,000 acres not far from Fields' residence in Van Buren.

"Just a small portion of it is for the Air National Guard to fire and test weapons," said Kim Kimmey, chief warrant officer at Fort Chaffee.

According to the Federation of American Scientists Military Analysis Network, A-10 aircraft "have excellent maneuverability at low air speeds and altitude, and are highly accurate weapons-delivery platforms. They can loiter near battle areas for extended periods of time and operate under 1,000-foot ceilings with 1.5-mile visibility. Their wide combat radius and short takeoff and landing capability permit operations in and out of locations near front lines. Using night vision goggles, A-10/ OA-10 pilots can conduct their missions during darkness."

D'Aurizio at Barksdale AFB told WND there were four A-10 planes as part of the training mission the night of Jan. 9, and they used LUU-2 flares.


Schematic illustration of an LUU-2 flare


According to GlobalSecurity.org, "The mechanism has a timer on it that deploys the parachute and ignites the flare candle. The flare candle burns magnesium which burns at high temperature emitting an intense bright white light. The consumption of the aluminum cylinder that contains the flare 'candle' may add some orange to the light."

"I did not know that such 'parachute flares' existed and never considered the possibility," Col. Fields told WND upon learning the reason behind the mysterious lights. "I am grateful, however, that the truth has been determined and those that may have been disturbed by this event will be able to rest."

Fields, a Christian who originally speculated his sighting might have had something to do with End Time prophecies from the Bible, still wants people to remain vigilant.

"Because this event was explained does not change the fact that we live in perilous times – and we must still be awake, alert, and know that a great deception is still coming."

WND's original story sparked a flurry of interest in unexplained phenomena and UFO activity, with many readers saying they had seen or experienced lights similar to those witnessed by Fields.

D'Aurizio said when the flares are deployed, "It's not unusual to have people think there's something strange going on."

The feedback to WND became comical at times.

One reader, Jeff Anno, supplied his own image, explaining, "I looked closely at the orange picture and something looked fishy. It looked like the [Volkswagen] logo."







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Sheilds down Scotty, it's not a Klingon attack after all.

Thank God, this has been cleared up, I have lain awake thinking every night since I saw this on the net, this is just awful, with all the aliens coming here from the south we simply cannot afford to be having more of them dropping out of our sky!

Too funny!

Sure, let's stick with that story...ew-eee-ewh...

Hmmm... Sounds more like the old standard "weather balloons and signal flares" disinformation program to me. You'd think that an ex Air Force officer would know what parachute flares (which have been used at least since Vietnam) look like. Maybe it was Venus reflecting off swamp gas.

Maybe it is all of the hot air and gas seeping from our politicians. It is mucking up the skies and will only get worse before the primaries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8RfzkhqBLY

Where does one buy a mesh jumpsuit? LOL!