Several witnesses saw light circle

A giant double circle of up to 26 lights seen hovering over Bristol by several witnesses in July 1996 led the MoD to check with air defence experts.

Chris Davies, of the Search UFO group, made his own investigations after hearing rumours of the phenomenon and collected several eyewitness accounts before contacting the MoD.

One middle-aged couple and their daughter reported it as hovering over flats in Bedminster, making a whirring noise.

One young woman watched it moving backwards and forwards for three hours from 2.30am on July 6. Another witness thought it disappeared behind clouds. A 28-year-old man said he had watched it rotate.

Several witnesses sent sketches. Interest in UFOs may have intensified at the time because the Hollywood Sci Fi film Independence Day was in the news.

The MoD investigated but its air defence experts were confident there had been no breach of UK air defence and noted that the sightings had “possibly been caused by a laser display”.