Published: 5:13 AM 11/25/2009

by TP staff

One man swears his friend walked out to a field and saw for himself that a large, noiseless remote-controlled plane was responsible for the blue lights in the sky that brought traffic to a standstill Monday evening on MacArthur Drive.

Monday night’s 7 o’clock sighting was the second time mysterious blue lights were spotted maneuvering around the sky in southeast Tracy. The first was Nov. 9, also a Monday evening.

Tracy resident Jay Moini, 20, declares he has no fondness for conspiracy theories, nor a belief in UFOs.

Yet his mother pounded on his bedroom door Monday night, urging him to take a look up in the air, where a deep blue light about a mile away, moved around in ways no airplane or helicopter could, he said.

Traffic on MacArthur Drive was stopped in its tracks in the middle of the road as the lights caught the attention of motorists.

The fact that a military helicopter and two others were seen flying around the area Tuesday morning seemed to fuel speculation that the lights were part of a secret government experiment — or, perhaps, that space aliens were in our midst.

“It’s an unexplained phenomenon,” Moini said Tuesday.

But then he talked to a friend, whom he declined to name because the friend wants to remain uninvolved in case the police launch an investigation into the blue lights that have gotten so much publicity.

Moini said his friend followed the lights to a field near MacArthur Drive and Schulte Road, where he saw a man carry away a remote-controlled plane.

Tracy police also have speculated that the lights belonged to a radio-operated plane, some of which come equipped with LED lights for night flying.