A mysterious orange light has been spotted in the sky above Cumbria - following hot on the heels of a number of other sightings.

North West UFO Research is investigating the red/orange light seen in the sky to the west of Walney Island in Cumbria on February 10.

The object apparently fell to earth over land in the area. A spokesman for NW UFO Research said: "This may possibly have been nothing more sinister than a Chinese lantern that is now a popular component in contemporary celebrations. However, the identity of the object has not at this stage been positively confirmed. Did anyone else see this thing?"

He continued: "We do not know what it was. Just what is happening in the dark night skies over Northern England today? Will the Ministry of Defence show any interest?"

Pat Regan of NWUR added: "Have the MoD any feasible opinions over these bizarre Cumbrian sighting - did they track anything unusual on radar or will we receive the same type of closed-shop, bureaucratic apathy over air safety issues that we observed last year when a UFO was pictured flying close to an RAF jet at an air show? 99% of UFO sightings can of course be explained away but air safety issues involving unknown aerial objects cannot, or should not, be compromised by the National defence authorities on a regular basis."

Strange orange lights were reported off Ravenglass - and the North West UFO Research is very interested.

The unexplained lights were seen offshore from Ravenglass on Saturday January 24, at about 7pm. A man "who has extensive knowledge of the area'' said it was not flares and noted there was no noise. Apparently there were two lights together, then one veered off to the north. He kept watching this light which then dipped down to sea level then up again, before heading off at speed northwards.

There was a second report of a bright fire ball spotted at 9.27am the previous day, Friday January 23, by a member of the public from the Kew Estate, at Southport and reported to the Coastguard Centre at Crosby, Merseyside. Apparently this person had seen the fireball while looking in the direction of Ormskirk. It was heading his way at a 45-degree angle. The witness, was said to be a professional person of good standing.