Film presents what if story on The Phoenix Lights

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - It's just a couple of weeks from the 19th Anniversary of The Phoenix Lights, a mass UFO sighting on March 13, 1997. It's a popular subject for conspiracy theorists, and nonbelievers say the lights were flares. Now the sighting is the basis for a movie called "The Phoenix Incident."

The movie is a fictional what-if account of the Phoenix Lights sighting, specifically what if the U.S. Air Force shot down the UFO.

The occupants of one downed UFO take out their misfortune on four desert ATV riders. The sequence was shot locally at South Mountain Park and the nearby Estrella Mountains.

Tucson-born Keith Arem directed the movie; he's seen UFO's in the skies above Arizona before.

"There was a craft that we saw for about an hour up in the sky," said Keith Arem.

Arem spent years in the music industry and directed some of the most popular video games made. The Phoenix Incident is his first feature film and is an independent production costing $1.3 million.

"Not only did we shoot a motion picture, but we also shot an additional two hours of material, and created a whole viral campaign where half of the movie exists outside the theater walls," said Arem.

He showed his film at the UFO Congress Convention in Fountain Hills where it drew mixed reviews.

"In 19 years there has not been one, not one report of harm, threat, or abduction associated with the Phoenix Lights phenomenon," said Dr. Lynn Kitei.

Paradise Valley Physician Dr. Kitei is the author of "The Phoenix Lights" and hopes the movie will encourage others to learn more.

"Hopefully, there will be people who are peeked and inspired by oh, what is the Phoenix Lights, and look at the real and credible data, and that's what I am hoping for," she said.

Arem is hoping the same.

"I hope this opens people's minds to really make a decision for themselves and question what they've seen and what they've read and explored the facts. That's the big message behind our film is to explore and decide what they think happened that night," said Arem.

The Phoenix Incident will have its U.S. nationwide premiere with Fathom Events on March 10th. Tickets are on sale now: fathomevents.com/event/phoenix-incident.

You can also watch a new trailer for the film at https://youtu.be/kN88TyVIrtc

And learn more about the Phoenix Lights at www.thephoenixlights.net/PL_Home.htm