Travis Walton case: Crew boss confesses hoax

[John J.]

And the mystery pilot who responded on the radio reportedly said, " "We're Canadian Snowbirds flying Tutors. We're headed to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base." (in Fitzgerald article). It seems likely that the word "Canadian" was not actually said, but assumed upon hearing the word "Snowbirds".

But Fitzgerald in SUNlite concluded that they were Canadian. In fact it's a key part of his "solution"

The hypothesis that aircraft might have been responsible for the flying "V" is not dependent on Tim Printy's proposed solution (that the Snowbirds aerobatics team was responsible), it just requires the presence of aircraft that might have flown in a "V" formation.
Fighters taking position for in-flight refuelling might be another possibility, trailing a tanker behind each wing.
We know there were military aircraft exercising in the region, roughly 2 hours after the first "V" sighting they were dropping flares.

A-10s (straight wings), F-16s (delta wings) in "V"s:

@Robert Sheaffer's suggestion is interesting re. the exchange between American West 757 co-pilot John Middleton, ATC and an unidentified pilot:

the mystery pilot who responded on the radio reportedly said, " "We're Canadian Snowbirds flying Tutors. We're headed to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base." (in Fitzgerald article). It seems likely that the word "Canadian" was not actually said, but assumed upon hearing the word "Snowbirds"

Overhearing the exchange, someone claiming to be a pilot in the formation radioed Middleton. "We're Canadian Snowbirds flying Tutors," a man said... [Fitzgerald later added] "We're headed to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base."

Bad UFOs blog 23 January 2014 https://badufos.blogspot.com/2014/01/arizonas-amazing-telepathic-flying.html

Robert is proposing (correct me if I'm wrong!) that Middleton's account (or recall) is slightly inaccurate: That maybe an Operation Snowbird pilot responded and "Snowbird" was mentioned, but Middleton interpreted/ recalled that as a response from a RCAF Snowbirds pilot (and knew that the Snowbirds use Canadair Tutors).
I'd guess many people interested in aviation will have heard of the Snowbirds (just as they may have heard of the Blue Angels, Frecce Tricolori, Red Arrows etc.) but perhaps far fewer will have heard of Operation Snowbird.

Even if Middleton's account is partly inaccurate, it might be evidence of a group of military aircraft near Lake Pleasant, north of Phoenix, at 20:30; that an airliner crew (jokingly) referred to the sight as a UFO, and a pilot in that formation realised the 757 crew were referring to them.