A LIGHT, said to be almost as bright as the Sun, was seen throughout the North of England early today. In Manchester, 40 people telephoned the police saying they had seen flare flashes in the night sky. In Stockport, police, fire and ambulance men were called to a field where it was said an object had landed, but nothing was found. Air traffic controllers at Manchester Airport said that the whole sky was brilliantly lit up for a few seconds. People from North Wales to the Scottish border contacted the police. An airport spokesman said the most likely explanation was that an unusually large piece of space debris had re-entered the atmosphere causing the sky to flare up. (51/80/12). (36).

An Unidentified Flying Object was spotted over the A5 near Nuneaton last night. Mr. Bill Whetstone of Castle Road, Weddington, reported seeing an unusual object in the sky at approximately 11 p.m. He described it as a bright, white light that crossed the A5 and then flew in the direction of Polesworth. Nuneaton police today said the object may have been a meteorite. (77/81/03). (10).

A countrywide research project is to be started to try to find what caused balls of light which have been seen recently in the sky over Leicestershire. After a report recently of a sighting near Desford, many other similar reports have been forwarded to the organisation UFO Research, Leicestershire. The bright white or green balls of light have also been seen over Coalville, Blackfordby and Burbage and are still a mystery. Mr. Mark Brown, one of the members of the research group, said that it may have been ball lightning when the first sightings took place but now another theory has been proposed. “All the sightings tend to be close to mines or quarries and could have been caused by the piezo-electric effect which is caused when natural quartz in rock is affected by landslip and a discharge is sent into the atmosphere.” (7).

A large diamond-shaped UFO was claimed to have been spotted over the Hollycroft Estate by a John Cleveland College student last week. Fifteen year-old Ashley Chamberlain was watching television at his home in Bearsden Crescent, Hinckley, at about 8.40 p.m. on Wednesday 18^th., when he heard a loud noise like a low flying aircraft outside. At first he went to the window and looked out, but as he could not see anything at all, he went outside to investigate. “I saw a huge diamond-shaped object going across the road. It was about the size of a Jumbo Jet, and it was flying very low over the ground. It was all dark except for a red light at the top, and a red light at the bottom” said Ashley. “At first, I thought it was a low flying aircraft on its side with the wings pointing up and down, but when I looked more closely, I could see that it wasn’t that” he said. He was so frightened that he rushed back inside the house and rang his Mother who was at a friend’s house. He then called the Police, and told them what he had seen. “It took me a while to get through, but when I did, they said that they had heard something go over as well, and if they had any more reports they would investigate”. Ashley had never believed in UFOs before. “I never thought about it” he said. “I wasn’t go to tell anyone what I had seen and was just going to try to forget about it until I heard on Mercia Sound radio on Saturday that two Policemen and another man, had also reported seeing a UFO.” The reaction at Hinckley Police Station however, was a little more down to Earth. One of their officers had seen the object that night, according to P.c. Cuthbertson. He said: “It was just one of those low-flying aircraft that we regularly get round here.” (51/87/03).(8).

THE HINCKLEY area is apparently a hotbed of UFO activity, an eminent researcher has revealed. Out of 35 unexplained phenomena in Leicestershire over the last 15 years, a third occurred in this area. Twelve sightings around Hinckley have included delta-shaped UFOs and a yellow circle of flying lights. But researcher John Spencer is not making the case for little green men in flying saucers, “I don’t think that is the right explanation” he told the Herald And Post. Mr. Spencer has been in Leicestershire to promote his newly launched book “The Paranormal: A Modern Perspective”. From crop circles to premonitions, healing and dowsing to crystal energy and coincidence, Mr. Spencer suggests an explanation for such mysteries exists in nature and the nature of mankind. In Leicestershire between 1977 and 1991, there were 35 unexplained sightings. These included a delta-shaped UFO over Hinckley in August, 1977, and a yellow circle of flying lights above Earl Shilton on October 6, 1989. (13).