E-009004LANDMARK CASE · HIGH CORROBORATIONDATE PRECISION: exactRECORD COMPLETENESS: 100%
Phoenix Lights Mass Sighting — March 13, 1997 (Thornton Source Record)
March 13, 1997Phoenix metropolitan area, Arizona, United States
Thornton describes reports beginning around 7:30 p.m. and a later large V-shaped formation of lights moving slowly and silently over the Phoenix area, with numerous civilian and professional witnesses.
Claims are displayed with the source wording, locator, relationship and verification state. Competing claims remain separate rather than being averaged into a single answer.
SRC-002106 · Cross-source audit: UFOs and Government treats Phoenix as a later case with civilian investigation and limited/conflicting government response, underscoring that the documentary record differs from stronger official-file cases; book pp. 341–345.
“Thornton presents Kenneth Arnold’s 1947 sighting as the event that popularized the “flying saucer” expression and says Gallup polling showed nine in ten Americans knew the term within six weeks.”
SRC-009001 · Chapter 3: Last Century — The Story Breaks; EPUB section locator: Bob Lazar / S-4 claims
SUPPORTS
CLAIM-900111unverified
“Thornton says George Knapp’s post-Soviet investigation in 1993 uncovered large volumes of military UFO documentation and reports of fighter losses while pursuing objects.”
“Thornton treats Roswell’s later importance chiefly as a cultural and secrecy touchstone while acknowledging that the underlying event remains uncertain.”
SRC-009001 · Chapter 3: Last Century — Legacy of Uncertainty; EPUB section locator: Roswell cultural legacy and uncertainty
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CLAIM-900115reported
“Thornton concludes that 20th-century UFO history shows an evolution from culturally stigmatized visual reports toward video, radar, multisensor correlation, and more formal investigation.”
SRC-009001 · Chapter 3: Last Century — From Denial to Documentation / The Technology Revolution; EPUB section locator: 20th-century documentation transition
SUPPORTS
Multiple claim rows are intentionally retained when sources disagree. ANOMALY does not silently reconcile competing values.