VIDEO: UFOs spotted in skies above Bristol

There were no little green men but an apparent alien encounter in Bristol has been causing a stir.

The Western Daily Press yesterday received a number of calls from people saying they had spotted "bright orange lights" in the sky above the city on Saturday night.

Callers from Westbury-on-Trym to Fishponds reported seeing the "fireballs" move through the sky between 9.15pm and 10.30pm.

Sandra Moss, 51, from Frampton Cotterell, saw them from the Prince of Wales pub in Stoke Lane, Westbury-on-Trym, as she enjoyed a soft drink with friends. She said: "The light was bright orange and seemed to be hovering, then it would drop, disappear and come back. It was too close for an aeroplane and too quiet for a helicopter."

As she walked back to her car on Abbey Road at about 10.30pm, she saw five lights high in the sky.

Another caller from Fishponds said people had been standing out in the streets at about 9.30pm looking at the lights.

She said: "It was just like something out of The Day of the Triffids.

"I don't know what it was but it was an amazing display."

"The lights were travelling over Lodge Causeway and coming from behind Tesco over Barton Hill field which is behind the Bristol Brunel Academy.

"I saw 10 lights in all and they were just amazing."

She added: "The first four came over and seemed to wait for the last of the five and then they circled several times and then literally went straight up and disappeared. Then the next five did the same."

The woman said it had been a clear night until she and her family saw the lights, when it seemed to become somewhat hazy.

She said: "We managed to take pictures and you can see that the lights were a perfect orb."

Robert Rosamond, of the British UFO Research Association, said it was impossible to say what the lights were until the body had completed an investigation. He did not rule out the possibility they were Chinese lanterns. Anyone who saw them can email the organisation at rivergypsy@hotmail.com.