Riddle of UFO 'invasion'

thisislondon.co.uk - Nov 28 2006

A UFO scare was sparked after the police were flooded with calls about a fleet of 'spaceships' invading the coast of Britain.

Thousands of people spotted the bright orange orbs off the Channel coast at Brighton.

Police and air traffic control centres were inundated by reports of the strange spectacle, the Daily Express reported.

Shocked witness James Gordon-Johnson said: "I hadn't been drinking. I was sceptical about UFOs before but this has changed my mind.

"I saw this big orange light in the sky. Then another one appeared in mid-air. Then another. And another."

Experts are baffled by the phenomenon, but believe it could be linked to a meteor shower.

The Hermstmonceux Observatory in East Sussex said a cloud of comet dust had produced a meteor shower which peaked with a display of shooting stars.

And an earlier Ministry of Defence study into UFOs concluded that many sightings could be "glowing clouds of gas created by electricity charges.