This article was published in the daily newspaper The News and Star, cumbria, U-K., on January 5, 2004
Daley Rogers: "It seemed to drop something white"
By Emma McGordon and Fiona MacRae
THREE UFOs have been spotted over West Cumbria during the festive season.
Revellers in Workington and Whitehaven have reported seeing shining balls and spooky triangles in the night sky.
Daley Rogers, of Hensingham, was left spellbound by a red object hovering overhead as he returned from Workington last week.
He said: "We were coming home and we could see something in the sky. It just seemed to stay there and when we got to the Hill Crest area there was a group of kids watching it. It seemed to drop something that was white and bright and exploded. Then, it took off. I don't know where it went."
Daley, 23, admits that although he wasn't frightened by the ball-shaped object, he's found it hard to get it out of his mind. "I have been thinking about it a lot," he said.
The 23-year-old is in good company, with at least six other people witnessing strange goings-on in the West Cumbrian skies over Christmas.
UFO expert Sharon Larkin, of Broughton Cross, near Cockermouth, said: "We have had sightings of a triangular-shaped craft and an orange ball over the Workington area.
"The triangle was going over the Stainburn bypass at around 10.30pm on a Sunday at the end of December. Before that it was sitting over Clifton. Then it headed off towards the Lake District.
"The orange ball was spotted over Broughton Moor last week."
Sharon, who logs UFO sightings in Cumbria and South West Scotland, says the area has a higher than average number of unexplained sightings. These include a "flying light" over Whitehaven Golf Club in September.
Sharon believes that around 20 per cent of the reported sightings are the real deal, with the rest being aircraft, satellites, cloud formations or hoaxes. Extra-terrestrial visitors are attracted to Cumbria because of the volume of water the county's lakes, the peace and tranquility of the area and the nuclear activity at Sellafield, she says.
"Different areas in the country have different numbers of sightings," she said. "The night sky in Cumbria is particularly alive.
"You do get some sightings in the summer but from September onwards, the skies are full of lights. With it getting darker earlier, people are more aware of what is going on over their heads."
