The video: Strange lights in the sky over El Paso, Texas, on Sunday — captured by an on-the-job cameraman for local NBC affiliate KTSM — have created a national stir. According to a KTSM news report, the incident was particularly notable because the configuration of the lights was "eerily" similar to that of three mysterious objects seen hovering over New York City last week (among the less conspiratorially minded, they were just balloons). In both cases, says the KTSM anchor, the lights "are seen solidifying into three dots forming a triangle." Local officials say the El Paso lights were actually just stunt airplanes flying nighttime drills — but is that explanation just a tad too pat?
The reaction: Either this was an "amazing coincidence," says the London Daily Mail, or "the little green men are coming down South." But Javier Ortega at GhostTheory thinks he may have found a more acceptable explanation: A team of skydivers doing "nighttime stunts with flares." Max Read at Gawker isn't buying it, though: "According to the authorities, it was an 'air show,'" Read says. "Yeah, sure, an air show... for aliens." Watch the strange lights over El Paso:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Merryn Somerset Webb chooses five books on how the world worksThe Week Recommends The financial columnist picks works by Peter Turchin, Adam Smith and Christopher Clark
-
Big Brother is watching: Wi-Fi signals can track you in your homeUnder the radar It could open the door to mass surveillance
-
Crossword: August 8, 2025The Week's daily crossword
