Alexi isn't the only one who saw the light. On the night of Jan. 28, nearly 30 people stood along the banks of the Mackenzie River and watched the lights for more than an hour, according to several people contacted by the Inuvik Drum. Alexi said the light was "very high" and flashed blue, yellow, green, red and other colors. Suddenly, a smaller light appeared out of the mass before both lights sped off at incredible speeds. Fort McPherson Mayor Phillip Blake saw nearly the same thing about 10 years ago. Blake said he saw a fast-moving bright light with two small lights orbiting around it. "Pretty well the same thing people are seeing now," he said. Blake thinks he may have seen a UFO that night. "It's the most logical explanation, but how do you confirm something like that?"

Some residents dispute the notion. Johnny Charlie said he was driving home on the Dempster Highway on one of the nights on which many claim to have seen the light. "I would have seen it, but there was nothing in the sky but a bunch of stars," Charlie said. George Blake hasn't seen one either. "I'm one of the unlucky ones," he said. He has a theory about the mysterious light. "It's somebody taking pictures of our land claims area," said Blake with a laugh. RCMP Const. Paul Joy has been called about the lights, but has not seen them himself. "I'm not a firm believer in little green men... at least, not in Fort McPherson," he said.

Similar lights were reported far south of here in the Deh Cho and South Slave regions. On Nov. 13, a Fort Simpson elder went on CBC Radio to report a hovering light he had seen over the Mackenzie River. The light had changed colors from red to blue, white and green. After about a minute, the light sped off so fast that it left behind a trail of brilliant light. Trappers and motorists in Fort Resolution reported seeing lights follow them. A Fort Resolution resident went on national television two weeks ago to say mysterious lights caused vehicle engines to go dead. Once they left, the engines roared back to life.

At least three groups - the Canadian Armed Forces, the Mutual UFO Network and another UFO watchdog - are investigating the phenomenon south of here. Michael Strainic, Mutual's national director, said the lights could be a new American military device undergoing covert testing in the North.