This is what caused the red flashing balls of light seen in the sky over Winter Hill last night

People in Chorley spotted the bright red flashes between 9pm and 11pm, with some people reporting the fiery balls of light to police.

In Chorley, a curious Kane Worden managed to capture the flashes on his phone and shared them on Facebook seeking answers.

"Did anyone else see the two red balls of light towards Winter Hill about 10 mins ago?," he said.

"They slowly went up and down and then disappeared down over the other side.

"Not saying these are aliens, but wondering if anyone knows what the hell they were!?"

Kane wasn't the only one to spot the red balls of light shooting through the night sky.

But many people recognised the red flashes were most likely flares and feared that it might be a distress signal from someone in urgent need of help on the wild moors of Winter Hill.

The mystery was solved at 10.20pm, when Bolton Mountain Rescue Team took to Facebook to ease people's concerns following a flurry of calls from the public.

The team said: "If you're seeing flares up near Winter Hill tonight, no need to worry, that's us on exercise.

"Local police forces are already aware, but we've received a couple of direct calls from the public - thanks for your vigilance but there's nothing to worry about on this occasion!"

They later added: "The exercise has run late this year, but as of 11pm, all flare exercises have finished."

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