A UFO has been sighted at Bala rekindling memories of a similar visitation more than three decades ago.

One family, from Llanuwchllyn, reported seeing orange circular objects flying around above the Berwyn mountains, in events which echo a suspected flying saucer incident in 1974.

Hywel Rhys Roberts, from Caernarfon, was visiting family in the area with brother Alwyn earlier this month when the pair spotted strange flying objects in the skies above Bala.

"My brother saw it first. We were in the lounge and he looked out of the window in the direction of Bala and called us over. It was a circular shape moving towards the Berwyn mountains," he said.

"We sat down and minutes later we saw another light much closer on the other side of Llyn Tegid in front of the mountain. It was more than a helicopter light flashing - it was very odd. It rose up quickly and we could see it silhouetted against the side of the mountain."

The sighting is reminiscent of another incident in the same area three decades earlier, often referred to as the Welsh Roswell.

Although MOD files released earlier this year officially conclude that nothing unusual happened in the area on January 23, 1974, reports from the area said bright lights were seen in the skies, along with a loud bang and tremors in the ground which measured 3.5 on the Richter scale.

Claims suggest that a UFO crashed in the area and that "bodies" of extra terrestrial beings were retrieved and taken away by soldiers, although this theory has never been proved.

The recent Bala sightings coincide with similar claims from Caerwys, where drinkers in the area reported seeing more objects in the night sky last Wednesday [June 18].

Sion Davies, who was in the Royal Oak pub that night, said: "A few people scoffed at the idea they were UFOs but you could not explain anyway what we were seeing.

"I am a sceptic but I cannot explain what was going on in the sky that night."