  We demonstrate the existence of stable three dimensional dissipative
localized structures in the output of a laser coupled to a distant saturable
absorber. These phase invariant light bullets are individually addressable and
can be envisioned for three dimensional optical information storage. An
effective theory provides for an intuitive picture and allows to relate their
formation to the morphogenesis of static auto-solitons and cellular patterns.
The complexity incurred by the widely different time scales present in the
problem as well as by non-local couplings that stem from the material degrees
of freedom is circumvented by the use of a multiple time-scale analysis. This
provides a powerful model enabling to tackle effectively the three dimensional
case.
