LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Seeing strange lights and objects in the sky above Las Vegas isn’t anything new. In fact, while this week’s story about a family seeing “non-human” creatures in their backyard after a green fireball streaked across the sky is making international headlines, in just the past four years, similar strange tales have been spun around local campfires.
Modern UFO and alien stories really began to define this area as a sighting hot spot beginning in 1989 when an unknown man named Bob Lazar told 8 News Now a wild story about recovered spacecraft and alien technology being stored at and near Area 51 a few dozen miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Since then people have been more open to sharing their stories of strange sightings that they cannot explain.
Firey lights falling from the sky
Back in September 2019, 8 News Now viewer Rene Ostos, had no clue what he was seeing in the sky, Strange bright lights caused quite a stir around the Las Vegas valley turned out to not be UFOs or meteors as some viewers guessed. They were skydivers trying to land at Sam Boyd Stadium for the League Cup Championship game.
UFO visits a Las Vegas strip club
More recently 8 News Now shared the story of strange colorful lights hanging directly above the Saphire Gentleman’s Club on Sammy Davis Jr. Drive in late Dec. 2022.
“‘Twas two nights before Christmas and up and down the Strip, people looked up and thought they saw a spaceship.”
8 News Now
Around the stationary lights were four spotlights used by the club as a promotion, but just hanging in the clouds was what appeared to be at least four white lights and three red lights.
This night the weather was relatively cool and there were low clouds — this led to speculation it was just reflections from the lights along the Las Vegas Strip. It turns out that is probably correct, but not completely correct since this had not been seen before by people in this area.
8 News Now talked with a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Las Vegas and were told that since the lights in clouds did not appear to move, and the temperature in the clouds was cold enough, there’s a good chance what people saw this night was the phenomenon called “light pillars.”
Some people online matched up the lights to some of the large hotel-casinos along the strip. The red lights could be from Resorts World, and the other white lights from the Wynn, Encore, Strat, and Palace Station.
Mysterious Las Vegas lights
Once again, in late April of this year, people began emailing and calling the 8 News Now newsroom claiming odd bright lights were again hanging over the Las Vegas valley.
Often, the bright glow can be traced to parachute flares and perhaps aviation training of some sort, but this time neither Nellis Air Force Base nor Creech Air Force Base said it was their tech.
An 8 News Now viewer Bill — he asked not to use his last name — who lives in the southeast valley said he was in his backyard when he noticed the lights in the sky northwest of his neighborhood and started to record. He thinks the lights were over the Strip and the old downtown area.
“I’ve seen tourist helicopters flying around the Strip before, but this was so much bigger and brighter,” he said. “At the end there, it looks like a plane might be coming in to land at the (Harry Reid International) airport.
But for now – none of these sightings have a good and solid explanation.
