The sighting was featured on an episode of UFO Hunters, and Birnes dismissed reports that witnesses saw flares attached to balloons, claiming instead that the movement of lights ruled out the possibility of flares, "a theory "UFO Hunters" has already tested and proven implausible".
Birnes dismissed claims that witnesses observed flares attached to balloons, stating that the movement of lights was more likely than flares. This claim was investigated by "UFO Hunters", who had previously debunked it as an improbable explanation.