Unidentified flying objects have been reported over Gloucester, re-igniting fresh theories on alien life.

Several reports have been made to police and astronomy websites flagging up the unusual sightings over Gloucester and Cheltenham on Friday, June 15, at around 11.30pm.

Carl Sumners, 23, who spent six years in the Royal Navy and had three tours in Afghanistan with the Commando Helicopter Force, told us what he saw over his house in Roman Road, Gloucester.

He feared the turquoise object was a meteorite heading for a populated area, so called the police.

"It was the size of a wheelbarrow, 2,000ft in the sky and travelling faster than a fighter jet," he said.

"It seemed to be on fire as it had an orange tail behind it. There must be some kind of logical explanation, maybe it was a meteor. It definitely wasn't a Chinese lantern or weather balloon."

Rob Burgess, of Cheltenham, reported a sighting at 11.47pm on the same night. It has been logged on international astrology website, Meteorite News. He saw a bright white object moving from left to right, followed by a trail of light before moving behind a low dark cloud.

Police said they received a report from a resident in Middleton Lawn in Innsworth at the same time.

A police spokesman said: "We had a report of an object falling from the sky that was followed by a bright blue flame, the piece that fell from it was bright yellow in colour."

The sightings follow strange bright lights circling over Podsmead last month.

Experienced astronomer John Fletcher, who star-gazes from his Tuffley observatory, said: "There is a million-to-one chance this was anything other than a man-made object," he said. "It was a UFO, but that doesn't mean it was some kind of alien life-form or meteorite. It is very difficult to get any kind of perspective or idea of distance at night.

"I have seen embers from a fire in the sky at night and they can look absolutely stunning. It is easy to see why people would think it could be something else.

"The only advice I can offer is for someone to look through binoculars or a telescope first be reporting anything."