Hundreds of onlookers in two British cities and a town have been looking to the sky in amazement over the last three weeks at up to 50 mysterious orange balls of light.
The balls were spotted over Lincoln, Liverpool and Huntingdon.
The lights were also spotted in neighbouring Holland.
But before people start panicking, thinking highly advanced extraterrestrials are invading the planet, there are rumours that the lights could be 'counter measures' to test the radar systems on HMS Daring, one of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyers, the world's most advanced warships.
Another rumour is that they may be some sort of silent military aircrafts being tested.
Stunned onlookers watch as mysterious orange UFOs swoop across Britain's skies
By Daily Mail Reporter
03rd June 2009
Daily Mail
A procession of up to 50 mysterious orange lights has been baffling eyewitnesses after it was seen sweeping across Britain's skies.
In the last three weeks there have been three separate sightings in this country and even one in Holland.
The most recent sighting was on Sunday night when the lights were seen in two different locations, Liverpool and Lincoln.
Onlookers said they saw the orange lights hovering above Lincoln, before moving off in different directions and eventually shooting straight up into space.
Stunned: Families in Lincoln spotted glowing orange spheres grouped together in the sky on Sunday night
Eerie: Witnesses reported seeing the lights flying in an apparent formation, dodging and darting around each other before disappearing
In Merseyside, the lights have led to claims that the alleged UFOs were connected to a military exercise involving one of the Navy's warships.
It is believed the lights could have been 'counter measures' to test the radar systems on HMS Daring.
HMS Daring
In Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, families looked up last Wednesday and saw lights stream across the night sky for half an hour.
The lights have even been seen as far afield as Holland, with reports of glowing objects in the sky reported on May 11th.
Engineer Paul Slight was returning home in Lincoln from a day out cycling with friends when he spotted the bright orange lights hovering over the city and even flying in an apparent formation.
Mr Slight, 54, said: 'There were 26 of them at first, dodging and darting in between each other like they were playing a game.
'After that, seven more arrived from the right-hand side and weaved through the crowd of lights like strange kinds of aircraft.
'After five minutes of moving around, the flickering yellow objects hung in the air for a second then shot off into the sky and disappeared.
'I have no idea what they were - I'm not usually a believer but what I saw was really weird.'
These four strange orange lights were captured in this photograph taken in Holland on May 11
Ruth Veron, spokesperson for nearby RAF Cranwell, said she did not know what the phenomena could be.
She said: 'RAF Cranwell is closed over the weekend so it could not have been any aircraft from this base.
'I do not have any idea what the lights could be, we did not have any aircraft flying that night.'
In Merseyside, a former military source told the Liverpool Echo that high-flying jets had dropped the 'counter-measures' ie (the lights) along a route to simulate the path of a missile in order to test HMS Daring's radar systems .
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: 'We are looking into what activity, if any, was taking place in that area at the time.'
Mark Rosney, from the Merseyside Anomalies Research Organisation which investigates paranormal activity, discounted the possibility of a astronomical event.
He said: 'Witnesses saw them travelling from south to north. If there are military aircraft in the area, they should be logged.
'It does sound like this explanation has legs.'
Auberon Hedgecoe, who watched the phenomena in Huntingdon with his wife Suzi, woke his son Barney, 10, and a friend Zac to show him the lights.
He said: 'They were not planes. These were not balloons. Each one was the size of a building.
'It was like an armada. There was no sound.'
Military exercise: Experts are investigating whether these orange lights above Merseyside were 'counter measures' to test the defences of a Royal Navy ship
HMS Daring, which is currently docked at Liverpool, uses radar-activated guns. It is believed the lights seen may have been 'counter-measures' to test its defences
Another witness said: 'They were quite low and they weren't travelling randomly, something was driving them.
'I do believe in UFOs but I think this was a military operation.
'They may have quiet aircraft and fly at night so people don't see them. I don't think they were aliens.'
Phil Hoyle, from the UK-based UFO Investigation Unit, said the way the UFOs moved indicated a form of intelligence.
He said: 'If these objects were circling one another you would have to rule out that they were fireworks.
Unexplained: An image manufactured by Auberon Hedgecoe of how the lights appeared over a half an hour period above Huntingdon
The Hedgecoe family, from left Suzi, Barney, friend Zac and Auberon, saw 50 of the orange lights above Huntingdon and described them as being 'as big as a house'
'There have been more and more sightings of bright spheres appearing in the sky all around the country recently.'
Other possible explanations for the mysterious orange lights include Chinese lanterns, or meteor showers.
The lanterns, which can be released at family celebrations or for the beginning of Chinese New Year, are able to stay aloft for around 20 minutes before the flame blows out and they float back down to the ground.
dailymail.co.uk
The balls were spotted over Lincoln, Liverpool and Huntingdon.
The lights were also spotted in neighbouring Holland.
But before people start panicking, thinking highly advanced extraterrestrials are invading the planet, there are rumours that the lights could be 'counter measures' to test the radar systems on HMS Daring, one of the Royal Navy's new Type 45 destroyers, the world's most advanced warships.
Another rumour is that they may be some sort of silent military aircrafts being tested.
Stunned onlookers watch as mysterious orange UFOs swoop across Britain's skies
By Daily Mail Reporter
03rd June 2009
Daily Mail
A procession of up to 50 mysterious orange lights has been baffling eyewitnesses after it was seen sweeping across Britain's skies.
In the last three weeks there have been three separate sightings in this country and even one in Holland.
The most recent sighting was on Sunday night when the lights were seen in two different locations, Liverpool and Lincoln.
Onlookers said they saw the orange lights hovering above Lincoln, before moving off in different directions and eventually shooting straight up into space.
Stunned: Families in Lincoln spotted glowing orange spheres grouped together in the sky on Sunday night
Eerie: Witnesses reported seeing the lights flying in an apparent formation, dodging and darting around each other before disappearing
In Merseyside, the lights have led to claims that the alleged UFOs were connected to a military exercise involving one of the Navy's warships.
It is believed the lights could have been 'counter measures' to test the radar systems on HMS Daring.
HMS Daring
In Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, families looked up last Wednesday and saw lights stream across the night sky for half an hour.
The lights have even been seen as far afield as Holland, with reports of glowing objects in the sky reported on May 11th.
Engineer Paul Slight was returning home in Lincoln from a day out cycling with friends when he spotted the bright orange lights hovering over the city and even flying in an apparent formation.
Mr Slight, 54, said: 'There were 26 of them at first, dodging and darting in between each other like they were playing a game.
'After that, seven more arrived from the right-hand side and weaved through the crowd of lights like strange kinds of aircraft.
'After five minutes of moving around, the flickering yellow objects hung in the air for a second then shot off into the sky and disappeared.
'I have no idea what they were - I'm not usually a believer but what I saw was really weird.'
These four strange orange lights were captured in this photograph taken in Holland on May 11
Ruth Veron, spokesperson for nearby RAF Cranwell, said she did not know what the phenomena could be.
She said: 'RAF Cranwell is closed over the weekend so it could not have been any aircraft from this base.
'I do not have any idea what the lights could be, we did not have any aircraft flying that night.'
In Merseyside, a former military source told the Liverpool Echo that high-flying jets had dropped the 'counter-measures' ie (the lights) along a route to simulate the path of a missile in order to test HMS Daring's radar systems .
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: 'We are looking into what activity, if any, was taking place in that area at the time.'
Mark Rosney, from the Merseyside Anomalies Research Organisation which investigates paranormal activity, discounted the possibility of a astronomical event.
He said: 'Witnesses saw them travelling from south to north. If there are military aircraft in the area, they should be logged.
'It does sound like this explanation has legs.'
Auberon Hedgecoe, who watched the phenomena in Huntingdon with his wife Suzi, woke his son Barney, 10, and a friend Zac to show him the lights.
He said: 'They were not planes. These were not balloons. Each one was the size of a building.
'It was like an armada. There was no sound.'
Military exercise: Experts are investigating whether these orange lights above Merseyside were 'counter measures' to test the defences of a Royal Navy ship
HMS Daring, which is currently docked at Liverpool, uses radar-activated guns. It is believed the lights seen may have been 'counter-measures' to test its defences
Another witness said: 'They were quite low and they weren't travelling randomly, something was driving them.
'I do believe in UFOs but I think this was a military operation.
'They may have quiet aircraft and fly at night so people don't see them. I don't think they were aliens.'
Phil Hoyle, from the UK-based UFO Investigation Unit, said the way the UFOs moved indicated a form of intelligence.
He said: 'If these objects were circling one another you would have to rule out that they were fireworks.
Unexplained: An image manufactured by Auberon Hedgecoe of how the lights appeared over a half an hour period above Huntingdon
The Hedgecoe family, from left Suzi, Barney, friend Zac and Auberon, saw 50 of the orange lights above Huntingdon and described them as being 'as big as a house'
'There have been more and more sightings of bright spheres appearing in the sky all around the country recently.'
Other possible explanations for the mysterious orange lights include Chinese lanterns, or meteor showers.
The lanterns, which can be released at family celebrations or for the beginning of Chinese New Year, are able to stay aloft for around 20 minutes before the flame blows out and they float back down to the ground.
dailymail.co.uk
Last edited: