An Auckland writer says mysterious lights she saw last month are beyond any science fiction she could have dreamed up.

Heather Royal, of Gulf Harbour, is baffled by two large, orange lights she saw near Manly Beach on October 9 and is appealing for further information about what they may have been.

The writer and her husband, Jeff, spotted the intriguing phenomena as they drove back from a friend's house where they had watched the All Blacks beat Argentina in the World Cup quarter final.

"The sight which I saw was so unusual and so amazing I let out a huge expletive."

Royal says the lights were "faster than a light aircraft but not as fast as a jet" and were no higher than 2000ft in the sky.

She says they saw the lights, which were "just over the sea", for about 20 to 30 seconds.

Royal has contacted the Civil Aviation Authority, Airways and the Defence Force since the sighting trying to find a rational explanation for the lights.

According to radar data, no aircraft were recorded in the area on that night and authorities were at a loss to explain what Royal could have seen.

"It wasn't a meteor, it wasn't a Chinese lantern, it wasn't a boat flare - me and my husband are both boaties and it wasn't a flare because this was a very orange light."

Royal stops short of attributing the sighting to paranormal activity.

"I think a lot of people go away with the fairies and they start to think UFOs are all little green men."

According to UFocus NZ - a website dedicated to New Zealand UFO sightings and close encounters - four unidentified lights have been reported in Auckland this year.

In August, a YouTube video showed a bright nimbus light hovering near the Sky Tower.

An astronomy educator at Auckland's Stardome Observatory quickly debunked any paranormal conspiracy theories saying it was "almost certainly" the contrails of a plane heading out over the Tasman Sea.