FLARE TESTS TO BEGIN IN DESERT AREA MISSIONS INCLUDE BLAST OF WHITE LIGHT.

Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- If brilliant white lights appear in the desert sky north of Edwards Air Force Base, it's not UFOs -- it's Air Force jets shooting off anti-missile flares.

The Air Force Flight Test Center announced it will soon -- possibly as soon as today -- expand its use of aircraft flares to a test and training range running northeast from Edwards across the desert between California City and Barstow.

``It's a slight expansion, as they are going outside the boundaries of Edwards Air Force Base,'' Edwards spokesman Chris Ball said.

The expansion is necessary to accommodate testing of new and faster aircraft, such as the F-22 and the F-35 joint strike fighter, and also to keep Edwards pilots practiced in using the devices, which are used over Iraq and Afghanistan, Ball said.

Edwards announced the expansion because the glowing flares might be visible to people in communities around the test and training range, called the R2515 flight complex, including Barstow, Ridgecrest, California City and Mojave, officials said.

``It's to let folks know if they see these, the sky is not falling,'' Ball added.

Flares produce a brilliant white light, and will leave a white smoke trail when falling from an aircraft. They are designed as decoys to confuse heat-seeking missiles when an aircraft is under attack.

The flares are released at an altitude high enough that they burn out long before they hit the ground, Ball said. They also are designed to stay on the aircraft if they fail to ignite before they are ejected, he said.

But if people find an unignited flare in the desert, they should avoid touching it and call Edwards' security forces at [phone]. The flares are rectangular, about 8 inches long by 1 or 2 inches square and tan or gold, with a ignition primer in one end.