County UFO mystery finally solved

These pictures solve the mystery of the unidentified flying objects which floated across the sky near Ludlow at Christmas.

The bright orange apparitions astonished residents in the area and even prompted a call to police.

But the Jennings family today admitted their Chinese sky lanterns must have caused the scare.

It followed an article in the Shropshire Star on Wednesday which reported several sightings of strange orange lights.

From The Wrekin to Llanymynech, and Ludlow to Pontesbury, the weird UFOs mystified Shropshire Star readers.

Ludlow lorry driver David Reddard called the police after seeing one light on Christmas Eve, one on Christmas Day and three on Friday last week near Tinker's Hill.

Retained firefighter Phillip Juson, of Ludlow, saw lights in the same location on Sunday night.

The original Star article suggested one possible explanation was the growing popularity of Chinese-style "sky lanterns" or "UFO balloons".

And Ludlow resident Diane Jennings today confirmed that Chinese lanterns were the explanation.

She said: "We did wonder if they would be mistaken for UFOs. They are quite big and they last a long time when lit and can go up to 1,000 ft.

Much better value than fireworks. I hope that explains it, anyway!"