Summary : An very similar sighting to the one reported over Phoenix this year happened over Jacksonville in 1992.

On the early morning of June 15, 1992 while lounging in a swimming pool with my cousin and father,  my cousin first noted seeing the formation.  He gasped in disbelief when he (we) saw an approaching string of large white lights coming at us from the west heading to the east directly over the city of Jacksonville FL.  The row of lights (7 or 8) were evenly spaced and at the same hieght.  As they approached us they went straight up into the sky and while going up formed the shape of a large "V".  The "V" continued to go straight up into the sky until it was almost completed out of sight when a flash of light from either the horizon or ground shot up at the formation in an waverly line followed by a second streak of light.  We all sat there dumbfounded by the sighting.  My cousin who is a pilot stated that the light formation was not that of any plane over the US. and the entire time the formation made no heard sound. We all three never really pushed the issue until I had seen film footage of the sighting over Phoenix this year and what was filmed was almost exactly what we had seen.  Now I believe.