UFO sighting explained

By Tom Shepherd

Comment: A RETIRED couple from Ampney Crucis who read an article in the Standard about mysterious lights seen flying above Tetbury a month ago said they saw the same spectable.

Tetbury resident Ian Stokes was visiting friends in Court Field on August 18 when he saw the phenomenon. At around 10pm he looked out of a window and noticed a strange light in the cloudy skies above.

"It appeared to be a transparent ball glowing like a candle in a jar about 250 feet high," he said.

"Then we saw another one and then another one. We counted nine. It was like a series of light aircraft but they were completely and utterly silent. It wasn't a steady light and they were travelling too fast for a balloon."

Roland Hunt, 78, from Ampney Crucis, read the story in the Standard and remembered seeing the same lights the Saturday before, August 11.

He said: "They were going quite fast which may mean they were quite low down and picking up surface wind."

Chris Howley, of the Gloucestershire Paranormal Research Group, told the Standard the most likely explanation for the strange sighting was "candle-powered balloons" released at a nearby wedding.

10:12am Monday 17th September 2007