Entertainment

Northern Frights at Halloween - otherworldly visitors to Bangor

DAY three of Northern Frights brings us to Co Down and, perhaps, to galaxies unknown.

In May 2007 several people, including members of the coastguard, reported strange orange lights in the sky above Bangor.

Witness said that the lights arranged themselves in unusual, unnatural patterns. 

Air Traffic Control at Belfast International Airport received several reports from the public, but said they had no record of any aircraft in the sky at the time.

Speaking to the BBC, Bangor's Clifford Rossbottom described what he saw.

“There were three orange globes – nearly in a straight line – they were an absolutely fascinating sight," he said.

"I watched them for five minutes, and then very slowly, they just disappeared.

“The only thing I thought it could have been was three high-flying aircraft.

“If that is not the case, then I have no idea, and the only other thing I can think of is in fact that they were UFOs.”

UTV also covered the story, speaking to a witness who thought the 'UFOs' were no more than balloons.

A bit of a cheesy news report but it’s better than the news team who covered the story of a ‘Leprechaun in a tree‘ and a sort of vigilante Leprechaun hunter in Alabama, USA.

Ministry of Defence files released to the public in June 2013 revealed the extent of suspected extra terrestrial sightings in the north's skies over the years.  

In one report, a Belfast man was eager for the MoD to reply to him after he saw “ships” above his house in October 2008. The man said he had experienced “visitations from the greys” as well, an apparent reference to the alien images popular with UFO enthusiasts with pale skin, swollen heads and large black eyes.

The files also revealed the story of a driver near Newry who came across “a circle of bright light” which repeatedly moved towards and away from his car. In Newtownards, a man reported seeing “a craft” which he insisted was “not a shooting star or an aircraft made by man”.

In 2010, there were also several reported sightings of flying red objects in the sky above Co Derry. 

Two eyewitnesses reported seeing a silent, bright red object that could move extremely quickly and "looked like a stealth bomber".

A week after these sightings, an anonymous Derry man said he had seen a "bright orange light followed by a small white dot" in the sky over Bishop Street in the city.

Yet another sighting was reported soon afterwards, of six to ten bright orange balls above the city which were "like flames burning with a tail behind them".

Armagh Planetarium suggested they may have been meteors, as they recorded some activity over the city that night.

However, 'UFO expert' Betty Meyler claims that aliens may be attracted to the area by the substantial ‘energy’ generated from ancient structures such as megalithic sites near the city.

Send us your scary stories and tales of the unexplained from Co Down and across the north.

Leave us a comment below or get in touch on Twitter @irish_news or by using the #northernfrights hashtag.

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Tomorrow – A vampire or ‘Dearg-Dul’ in Co Derry.