UFO tale was just hot air...

Hundreds of people who thought they were seeing UFOs may have been duped by pranksters letting off a stream of flying Chinese lanterns.

Bright orange lights seen hovering over Hove had baffled police and airtraffic controllers last week.

But witnesses who spotted the orbs close-up said the lights, seen moving together in parallel formation, could have been merely heated balloons tethered with string. The "Chinese lantern balloons" are even being sold in packs over the internet.

The Argus first reported the unexplained flying objects on Saturday after readers called to report the weird floating phenomena.

Sussex Police and air-traffic controllers at Shoreham Airport said they had both received inquiries about the UFOs, with as many as eight seen in the sky at one time.

But witnesses have since come forward to claim that what they saw was far from unexplainable.

Vince Meegan, of Holland Road, Hove, said he was walking with his two sons when he first saw the bright lights near the King Alfred Centre, late on Saturday, November 18.

He said: "The first two or three were too high to see properly but then the next few remained at about 30m so we could get a reasonable look at them.

"They appeared to be small translucent paper octagonal boxes, around the size of a shoe box, with a night-light candle inside.

I'm sorry if this is disappointing but the Martians aren't arriving just yet."

Readers from as far afield as Texas and Arizona have contacted The Argus to discuss the strange orange lights.

Yvonne Treszer, of First Avenue, Hove, said she saw between 40 and 50 of the glowing objects rising above the city's rooftops.

She said: "By the time I managed to find my camera and figured out how to put it on a night setting there were only three hovering in the sky. Then, typically, the camera ran out of batteries."

Ellie May, 30, of The Drive, Hove, began seeing UFOs in her parents' garden in Shoreham in the summer.

But she said they looked quite different from the Chinese lanterns others could have been watching.

She said: "The ones we saw were bright white, not orange, and there were about six of them, all moving independently in different directions, not with the wind.

"We're still none the wiser to what they are and I've seen more since - we've got quite used to them."

But Rob Whitehead, co-ordinator of Lancashire Anomalous Phenomena Investigation Society (LAPIS), said the mystery of Hove's floating lights could be quite simple to solve, after similar sightings in Liverpool and Nottingham.

He said: "I'm pretty confident the recent sightings can be attributed to UFO lanterns', which people are buying and launching in increasing numbers.

"The lanterns can be bought easily on the internet and appear as bright, orange balls of light that glide silently across the night sky. Depending on the wind conditions, people often report the objects appear to hang motionless in what appear to be deliberate, usually triangular formations."

The lanterns have even been released to celebrate people's weddings and birthday celebrations, he added.

Rick Barber, from South Carolina, explained how, when he was young, friends would put lighted candles under plastic bags to create miniature hot-air balloons.

Most witnesses were surprised to hear the UFOs could be faked so easily but said it wouldn't stop them watching the skies.

Justin Campbell, of Somerhill Avenue, Hove, said: "I counted 15 lights in all. I was shocked at how uniformly they moved. It's a bit weird but I'm not surprised they aren't real UFOs."

8:21am Friday 1st December 2006