Phoenix lights may be hoax

Phoenix residents and the media still are abuzz over the mysterious four red lights that appeared in Monday night's sky in north Phoenix.

But a man who lives on the north side of the city claims he's responsible.

He told reporters that he used fishing line to attach road flares to helium-filled balloons, then lit the fares and launched them a minute apart from his back yard.

A Phoenix Police Department helicopter pilot who witnessed the lights said they appeared to be flares, possibly hanging from one or more helium balloons.

Witnesses said the lights initially appeared to be in a straight line, then formed a square and then a triangle before disappearing.

The man interviewed, who asked not to be identified, said he believed turbulence created by a passing jet caused the balloons to move around.