A retired police officer is looking for clues in his bid to unravel a baffling UFO sighting on the outskirts of Boscastle.

John Dawn says he is keen to finally solve a mystery that unfolded in the early hours in woodland around half a mile from the village.

It was in October, 2003 that police were sent to investigate after a passing motorist reported seeing flickering lights off the Tintagel-Boscastle road.

One of the two officers drafted to the scene later told Cornwall UFO Research Group how he had expected to find a bunch of teenagers fooling around with fireworks.

Instead, he recalled: "I was first to see what looked like round white lights moving at all kinds of speeds in and around the trees.

"Each ball of light was a little larger than a tennis ball. I tried to count them but it was very difficult due to the speed and way they were flying but I think there must have been around 40 of them.

"They seemed to join up making a larger ball of light which intensified and hovered in that one area. I could make out seven black specks in a circle in the centre.

"I could hear the noise of leaves being sucked into the air when they flew inches from the ground. In the leaves were trenches and spirals and small piles of sticks.

"In the distance we could hear the sound of breaking branches and I was not feeling good about being there so I shouted at my partner that now was the time to leave."

Now Mr Dawn, a retired detective constable from the West Midlands, is launching a fresh probe into the sighting as part of his exhaustive research into supernatural goings-on across the country.

Since 1995, he has compiled five volumes of evidence of strange phenomena dating back to the 1940s.

"One of the reasons why I took on the mammoth task of writing a comprehensive account is that every case should be treated on its own merits," said Mr Dawn.

"It is not about aliens and spaceships or little green men.

"Forget the ET hypothesis. I have learned - through many hundreds of interviews conducted with people from all walks of life - that there is ample evidence to confirm the existence of a phenomenon which cannot be explained rationally in current times."