UFO drops to earth in flames

LAURA BAGSHAW

UFO enthusiasts were brought back down to earth with a bump this week after the mysterious black object seen hovering in the skies above Gorleston was in fact a home-made hot air balloon.

The Mercury has been inundated with calls and e-mails from people who saw the black fiery object in the sky on August 24 with more people claiming to have spotted it in Hemsby on August 26.

However, it appears the borough is not going to be visited by little green men anytime soon as the mysterious telephone box-shaped object was actually a large black polythene bag with a candle attached to it.

The home-made balloon landed in the garden of Barry Warnes of Wadham Road, Gorleston.

He said: “I was in the lounge watching TV at about 8.30pm when I heard all this commotion outside. My neighbours were shouting 'Barry, Barry, your garden is on fire.'

“When I went outside there was a large polythene bag on the garden with lots of smoke coming from it,” he said.

The bag had sticks inside it which had been tied together to keep the bag open and a large candle had been attached to the bottom of the bag to fill it with hot air to make it fly.

Mr Warnes, 65, said: “I had to bang the bag a couple of times to stop it smoking. It could be quite dangerous if the flame was still burning when it dropped to the ground.”

The balloon was originally spotted by GYB Services worker Stewart Davis, close to Brasenose Avenue. Mr Davis managed to get a picture of the balloon on his mobile phone.

Since it was published in last week's Mercury, theories about what it might be have be non-stop.

Gorleston man John Hughes, 45, said the object resembled the shape of a Chinese lantern. He said: “I remember reading something about Chinese lanterns and it would be a similar shape with light coming out of the bottom.”

Louise and Malcolm Thompson, of Brasenose Avenue, spotted the black object in sky while relaxing in their garden.

Mrs Thompson said: “It looked like a black bin liner tied to an ice cream tub with something lit inside it.”

Ian Williams, of Edinburgh Avenue, Gorleston, said he had seen the object before. “My mother-in-law was driving along Edinburgh Avenue and saw a couple of people on a scooter filling up a black bag with the exhaust fumes then let it fly away,” said Mr Williams, 25.

Gillian Fairman spotted the object in Hemsby on Sunday, August 26.

She said: “It came towards Hemsby from Martham and was gradually getting lower when it went towards Yarmouth.”

Renato Notarianni was at a friend's house in Hemsby on August 26, when he noticed the object floating in the sky. He said: “It looked just like a wheelie bin with fire coming out of it.”