The 'fireball' seen over Brixworth.
© Lauren TesterThe 'fireball' seen over Brixworth.
Eye-witnesses believe a bizarre object that looks like a ball of fire seen over Northampton and the surrounding area 'was a UFO'.

The strange ball of light seemed to swirl around in the sky for no apparent reason for a few seconds before disappearing.

Luke Pawsey saw it while in Northampton on June 22, while his friend Lauren Tester managed to film it from her home in Brixworth, which you can watch in the video above.

The 20-year-old, who works in the social care team at Northamptonshire County Council, was amazed by what he saw and believes it was 'alien'.

"I genuinely believe there's extraterrestrial life out there but we're just not aware of it or we're too naive to think there isn't anything out there," he said.

"I think it's an unidentified flying object (UFO) but when people imagine that they think of a spaceship which I don't think it was.

"But how do we know what's out there, especially if it doesn't exist to us? It could be aliens but I don't want to say for certain as I don't know."

And it is not the first time the phenomenon has been seen above the town.

An uncannily similar fireball-like object was seen in the sky above Northampton in 2014, with suggestions it could have been 'ball lightning'.

Luke does not think it was lightning or anything man-made as it resembled fire, but admitted that when UFO sightings are posited online, no one believes them.

He is also surprised that more people did not see it and are not talking about it as it would have been so visible to so many people.

"It's baffling and it really is a mystery that's why I'm so interested in it," he said.

"No one knows what it is and by the time you get someone to look at it, it's gone.

"That's why it's so good Lauren managed to capture it on video in such a small amount of time."

(View video here)