Fire in Las Vegas Sky Caused by Military Flare

A-10 warthog accidentally shot off this military illumination flair.

It did what it was supposed to do - light up the ground so troops can see in combat. But this wasn't enemy territory it was north Las Vegas. Julie Vivar saw it and grabbed her video camera. "We were sitting here in the couch watching TV. All of a sudden a big old bright light came through the window," Julie Vivar, witness, says. She heard a military plane circling overhead and saw the light coming right over her home.

"It sort of sailed like this just going through the sky until it got low down there and that was it," she says. It appeared to sail because this type of flare has a parachute attached giving anyone on the ground enough time to get the lay of the land at night. The flare landed on a residential street. A white powdery substance marks the spot where the flare hit the ground very close to a house. - klas