Published: February 11, 2009
Exclusive: Mystery surrounds 'UFO sighting' in skies above Brean

Video footage of a cylinder-shaped object floating in the skies above Brean, near Burnham-On-Sea, has raised speculation that it could have been a UFO.

The object, pictured, was seen travelling over Brean whilst shocked onlookers at a caravan park watched on.

There are already a range of theories on what the object might have been, with some believing it was a kite or weather balloon, while users on video sharing website YouTube claim the object was a "high altitude observation balloon payload"or a "metallic shape, higher than a plane."

UFO expert Malcolm Robinson said the object was "totally consistent" with other sightings. Mr Robinson, who runs UFO group Strange Phenomena Investigations, said: "This video of a UFO is clearly very exciting."

"While UFOs are commonly thought to be spherical in shape, we receive dozens of calls from people who have spotted similar cylinder-shaped objects. There is, of course, an argument that this could be a weather balloon or some other common object."

"But my research has shown that it is totally consistent with other UFO sightings, none of which have been hoaxes or naturally-occurring phenomenon."

The two minutes of video footage of the object can be viewed online here. It was shot last July at the height of the tourist season - and it's not the first time there has been mystery over unexplained objects in the skies near Burnham.

Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards and rescue hovercrafts were called out last June to search Somerset's coastline after sightings of a parachute and canister falling from the sky, which were never found.

Click here to watch the online video of the 'UFO' over Brean