This article was published in the daily newspaper Essex Chronicle, Essex, England, on April 24, 2003.
A UFO was spotted over Mersea Island just 90 minutes before a passenger jet pilot reported a similar sighting at Stansted.
Police have confirmed the "experienced" Boeing 737 captain radioed air traffic control toreport a UFO just two miles from the airport.
A police spokesman told the Evening Gazette: "He thought he saw another aircraft flying in front of him, but there was no near miss. There was another report that someone saw what seemed like a ball of fire."
A ground patrol at Stansted also reported seeing shooting stars.
Police say the runway was checked as a precaution but nothing was found.
The control tower logged the incident as an "unidentified flying object".
Less than two hours earlier a former taxman was shocked to see a UFO shoot across the sky while out walking his dog.
John Wilson, 69, was near his East Mersea home when he spotted the bright ball-shaped light in the sky.
The strange sighting happened at 9.15pm on April 11.
A police spokesman said there were no other reports of UFOs over Mersea Island that night. They are "keeping an open mind" over the Stansted incident.
