I lived in Phoenix that night too. I just happened not to have gone outside that evening. Afterward, when everyone discussed this over the water cooler, I felt like one of the characters in those "Left Behind" stories.
I also happened to not have watched TV news that evening. Not that this would have done any good, because Phoenix TV news is a total waste of time when real breaking news occurs. Had an alien landed on the Capitol lawn and announced peace for all mankind, Phoenix news outlets would have broken away to cover a car chase.
Seriously, you know how the skies can be there. It was an interesting vision to us, but I truly didn’t think much beyond that— until many years later I realized many others saw it and it was an unidentified object.
If we weren’t new to the area and didn’t happen to be watching the sky, we would have missed it too.