"PHOENIX — Former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington trotted out an aide dressed as an alien 10 years ago to spoof the frenzy surrounding mysterious lights in the Phoenix sky. Now he says he saw the lights himself, and believed from the start that they were extraterrestrial.

Now a pastry chef and business consultant, Symington said he did not acknowledge his own encounter at first because he did not want people to panic. "