Boxing Day became a night to remember for one young local and his family when they spotted two UFOs over Dumfries.

Macaulay Moodycliffe was setting out to the nearby chip shop from Preistlands Drive where he lives when he spotted strange lights in the sky. He was so awe-struck he ran home to get his family, who also claim to have seen the objects.

Macaulay, who is 16, told the Standard: "They were large orange balls with a circle of orange glow around them that was given off by the light. They appeared to be moving slowly but when I looked closer and I could see a plane in the sky and it was clear they were moving very fast indeed, a lot faster than the aeroplane in the sky."

The two objects hung around in the sky for about five minutes before disappearing into the distance in the direction of Park Farm. Not long after the first two lights vanished a third appeared before heading the same direction.

Macaulay said: "The two disappeared out of my sight after a while as they faded away into the distance but then from behind the houses a third one appeared and followed the direction of the other two until it also faded into the distance. It was strange as they appeared to be pretty big but were silent."

A spokesperson for the MOD said: "We have not heard anything. We would not get reports about this sort of thing invading British airspace until further down the line."