It’s been a year since I got back into my hobby of night sky photography and I’ve seen many different types of lights in the sky. Most of them are explainable; satellites, spaceships, high-flying planes and other lights that have totally celestial explanations.
I have seen some lights that I cannot easily explain or identify. With a little time and amateur research, an explanation was found for most of them. As the year progressed, I seemed to have picked up some tools and new skills to help me identify the lights. One main tool is the amazing software app for my iPhone titled Sky Guide, which also has a plugin for satellites and celestial objects, and is quite accurate when following these objects in the sky.
Even with the new skills and tools, there are some lights that are not easily explained and remain in the unidentified category to this day.
Nov 20, 2015 7:47pm MST: (North of Phoenix, Arizona) From our backyard, we notice a reddish-orange light hovering just above the eastern horizon. I didn’t see it ascend or descend when it first appeared. I proceeded to take several photos and watched as it faded and disappeared. I looked at the footage later that night and noticed that it wasn’t going in one direction, but was flying in a rather erratic flight pattern before disappearing into nothing. You can see this clearly when you play back the images in sequence.
A more recent incident occurred on the night of December 10, 2015, this was also witnessed from my backyard. Around 6:50 pm I noticed a flickering white light moving west over neighboring houses. The light was high in the sky, blinking in intervals of three, then blank, then starting again. It seemed to be above the clouds as it moved forward. I turned the camera to capture it and then noticed a second white light moving west, flashing in the same sequence, heading south. I then realized that they were flashing in the same sequence in sync with each other. The second light made a sharp turn to the west, now following the flight path of the first light. As the two lights moved toward a distant tree line, I noticed a third light moving to the south, flashing in the same sequence as the first two. The third light also made a sharp turn to the west and followed the same flight path as the first two. I tried to identify these lights and strained while listening for any engine noise but heard nothing. I kept seeing these flashing lights for what I would say was about 45 minutes to an hour. I caught most of them on camera.
In the days that followed, I tried to find a reasonable explanation for the flashing lights. One possible conclusion was that they were part of the navigation lights belonging to the new F 35 fighter. Luke Air Force Base is west of us, and is one of the training bases for the new fighter jet. When I saw the last set of lights that night, I heard a slight rumble of what sounded like jet engine noises similar to fighter planes.
I did some research and was able to find a video of the F 35 flying at night and the night and light sequences looked similar. I’m not saying this is the explanation for the lights, but it’s a strong possibility and a good example of what a little research can do in these situations.
No, you won’t find an explanation for all the unidentified lights in the sky, but being an informed observer you can identify most of them.
By Rod Washington
