ORANGE lights spotted in the night sky over Derby have sparked reports of UFOs.

Derby Telegraph readers have told how they saw the mysterious lights above their homes.

Neither East Midlands Airport or the Ministry of Defence have been able to explain the reports.

Aleister Willis, of Wye Street, Alvaston, said he thought the lights were part of a bigger object.

Mr Willis, 33, said: "It consisted of two orange coloured cross shapes, parallel with each other, which moved with an eerie silence over my house.

"But what passed across the sky blocked out the stars. It terrified me.

"I am familiar with flight patterns and helicopter routes and I can say for certain that this was neither.

"There is no explanation. It was a clear night and I would estimate that it was the height of a low-lying cloud."

He then went round to the front of his house, where he claimed he saw the same shapes again. He said: "The same shapes appeared, silently moving back the other way.

"However, this time there were five or six of them – they seemed to fly in unison with some of them darting around.

"I am certain that this was intelligent flight. I have witnessed and filmed Chinese lanterns in the past – it wasn't anything like them."

Meanwhile, Brian Harrison, of Bramfield Avenue, Derby, said he had seen similar lights.

He said: "I saw four orange lights in the sky. My wife saw them first and called me. I wasn't sure what they were."

A spokesman for East Midlands Airport said there had been no flights over the two areas at the time on Wednesday evening when the sightings were reported.

And a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The MoD examines reports solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromised by hostile or unauthorised military activity.

"Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported."

Did you see anything on Wednesday night? If so, call reporter Chris Jones on Derby 291111 extension 6405.