Lynne Kitei
Lynne D. Kitei is a Phoenix physician with a Doctor of Medicine from Temple University School of Medicine (1974) and a postgraduate internship at Hahnemann University. From 2001 to 2004 she served as Chief Clinical Consultant of the Imaging-Prevention-Wellness Center at the Arizona Heart Institute. On the evening of 13 March 1997 she recorded the V-shaped formation of lights that moved south across Arizona from Prescott to Tucson on video and 35mm photography from her Phoenix home. She had filmed an earlier, similar sighting in January 1997 over Phoenix Sky Harbor airspace and reported it to air traffic controllers at the time. To protect her medical career she provided the 13 March footage to news organisations under the pseudonym 'Dr X' and operated anonymously for seven years, keeping a daily journal that ultimately reached 750 pages. She came forward publicly in 2004 with The Phoenix Lights: A Skeptic's Discovery That We Are Not Alone (Hampton Roads Publishing) and in 2005 directed and produced the documentary of the same name with Steve Lantz.
A Life
Lynne D. Kitei holds a Bachelor of Science in secondary science education from Temple University (1970) and a Doctor of Medicine from Temple University School of Medicine (1974). She completed a postgraduate internship at Hahnemann University (now Drexel University College of Medicine). She worked as a health reporter for NBC affiliates in Philadelphia and Phoenix, and founded Health Education Learning Programs, a company producing health education video curricula. She served as Chief Clinical Consultant of the Imaging-Prevention-Wellness Center at the Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix from 2001 to 2004.
After coming forward publicly in 2004 as the anonymous witness known for seven years as "Dr X," Kitei stepped back from active clinical practice. She directed and produced the documentary The Phoenix Lights (2005), in collaboration with filmmaker Steve Lantz. The film received the Best Director award at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival and the Best Documentary award at the International Sci-Fi Film Festival (both 2005). She published The Phoenix Lights: A Skeptic's Discovery That We Are Not Alone (Hampton Roads Publishing, 2004; revised editions 2010 and 2017). She has continued to speak publicly through conferences, media appearances, and her organisation, the Phoenix Lights Network.
On UAP
On the evening of 13 March 1997, a V-shaped formation of lights was observed by thousands of witnesses as it moved south across Arizona, from Prescott through Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe to Tucson. Estimates of the number of witnesses range from 10,000 to 20,000. The formation was described as silent, slow-moving, and of enormous scale.
Kitei recorded the formation from her home in Phoenix using video and 35mm still photography. She had also filmed an earlier, similar sighting approximately two months prior, in January 1997, over Class B restricted airspace near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which she reported to air traffic controllers at the time. After the 13 March event, she provided her footage to news organisations but operated under the pseudonym "Dr X" to protect her medical career. She maintained her anonymity for seven years, during which she kept a daily journal that ultimately reached 750 pages. She came forward publicly in 2004.
I had pushed my own medical career aside for seven years, searching meticulously for a logical explanation which I have yet to find thirty years later.Lynne Kitei, Coast to Coast AM interview, approximately 12 March 2026.
The Maryland Air National Guard dropped illumination flares over the Barry M. Goldwater Range at approximately 10 p.m. on 13 March, approximately ninety minutes after the main overflight. The military offered the flares as an explanation for the sightings. Governor Fife Symington of Arizona held a press conference in June 1997 at which an aide appeared in an alien costume. In 2007, Symington publicly stated that he had witnessed the V-formation himself.
Career Record
- Temple University, Philadelphia. Bachelor of Science in secondary science education (1970).
- Temple University School of Medicine. Doctor of Medicine (1974).
- Hahnemann University (now Drexel University College of Medicine). Postgraduate internship (1974 to 1975).
- Health reporter, NBC affiliates, Philadelphia and Phoenix.
- CEO, Health Education Learning Programs (from approximately 1985).
- January 1997, Filmed an earlier sighting over Phoenix Sky Harbor airspace.
- 13 March 1997, Recorded the Phoenix Lights V-formation from her home. Video and 35mm photographs.
- 1997 to 2004, Operated anonymously as "Dr X," providing footage to media while maintaining medical career.
- 2001 to 2004, Chief Clinical Consultant, Imaging-Prevention-Wellness Center, Arizona Heart Institute, Phoenix.
- 2004, Came forward publicly. Published The Phoenix Lights: A Skeptic's Discovery That We Are Not Alone (Hampton Roads Publishing).
- 2005, Directed and produced the documentary The Phoenix Lights, with Steve Lantz. Film festival awards.
- 2010, Revised edition of the book (Hampton Roads Publishing).
- 2017, Updated edition of the book. Expanded documentary release.
- March 2026, Interviews on Coast to Coast AM, The Light Gate, The X Zone Radio, and FOX10 television.
Document Trail
Lynne D. Kitei, The Phoenix Lights: A Skeptic's Discovery That We Are Not Alone (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing, 2004). ISBN 1571743774. Revised edition 2010 (ISBN 1571746323). Updated edition 2017.
The Phoenix Lights (documentary film, 2005). Directed and produced by Lynne D. Kitei with Steve Lantz. Awards: Best Director, New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, 2005; Best Documentary, International Sci-Fi Film Festival, 2005. Distributed by Vanguard International Cinema (from 2008).
Kitei's video recordings and 35mm photographs from 13 March 1997 and the earlier January 1997 sighting constitute the primary visual documentation of the event from a private witness. Her daily journal (approximately 750 pages, 1997 to 2004) documents her seven-year anonymous investigation.
In the Archive
- The Phoenix Lights, 1997, case exhibition.
- Bruce Maccabee, optical physicist who analysed the Phoenix Lights.
- United States country profile.
