'I never really believed in this sort of thing until tonight'

Mysterious lights that appeared in the skies over Arizona and Missouri July 27 have people buzzing across America, now that videos have been posted on YouTube.

The lights appear to be floating in formation over Tucson, Ariz., and Kansas City, Mo., with witnesses indicating they were silent.

“Look over there! There’s another one,” says a man recording video of the event in Tucson. “What the hell are they? They’re not jets. We heard jets fly over us all morning. … They’re completely silent.”

A woman on the recording says, “You can’t even see what they are. … It’s freaking us out.”

There were reportedly seven or eight lights in the sky at the same time over Tucson, with some were moving independently while the others were flying in tandem.

A YouTube user named Cbazz who recorded the phenomenon said,  “My family and I witnessed these strange amber lights in Tucson on our way home from dinner. There were seven or eight of them crossing the sky, some solo and others in pairs flying very, very close together.

“Living in this part of the country, we often hear fighter jets from the Air Force base, but we are used to that and it is always recognizable and very loud.”

“These objects we saw tonight were silent and moving across the sky very fast….Not sure what we were seeing, but I never really believed in this sort of thing until tonight. Glad I had my phone to record.”

“My family and I witnessed these strange amber lights in Tucson on our way home from dinner. There were seven or eight of them crossing the sky, some solo and others in pairs flying very, very close together,” wrote a YouTube user named Cbazz adding, “These objects we saw tonight were silent and moving across the sky very fast….Not sure what we were seeing, but I never really believed in this sort of thing until tonight. Glad I had my phone to record.”

Similar lights were spotted the same Saturday night, July 27, over Kansas City. (Click to view the Kansas City video below:)

“Not for sure what they are, but I got several videos of them and pics. Looks like a UFO fleet!?” wrote YouTube poster jemnich1, who was contacted by another witness, GoGraveside, who sent this message on YouTube: “I really hope you get to investigate this incident. I was in the same vicinity and recorded the same lights on my cell phone. There were 3 additional passengers in my vehicle at the time who witnessed the ‘lights’ as well.”

Ben Hansen, a former FBI agent who has analyzed thousands of videos and photos of purported paranormal events believes there’s a simple explanation for the lights.

“In my opinion both videos are definitely man-made, combustible objects — most likely Chinese lanterns,” Hansen told the Huffington Post.

“The Kansas [City] video is slightly different, especially in the beginning because they appear to move more quickly, but that could simply be a perspective illusion of the videographer’s zoom and shaky tracking,” he said.

“Both videos are consistent with the characteristics of ground-launched, fire-lit objects. In the last five years, we’ve seen an exponential increase in the use of Chinese lanterns and similar lighter-than-air objects launched as hoaxes or as part of celebrations.

“If you’ve never seen them in the sky before, the experience can be quite stunning to the casual observer.”