UFO captured on video over Leyland as Met Office rules out weather balloon theory

The mysterious white object was spotted by multiple witnesses as it soared through a clear blue sky towards Preston on Friday afternoon and Saturday evening.

It was caught on camera on both occasions and shared to a local Facebook group where others said they too had seen the strange object in the sky.

You can watch two videos of the object flying over Leyland in our media player – Clip 1 and Clip 2.

Too small for a plane but larger than the average drone and making no sound, the unidentified object left witnesses speculating about what they had seen.

“On both occasions it was going over Broadfield Drive heading Preston way,” said George, a local resident who managed to film the object as it cruised at high altitude over Leyland.

“Some people have mentioned para gliders but I didn’t get that impression, it was more balloon-like and moved at different speeds.

"It might sound daft but that’s what I saw. It moved quite fast and I’ve seen it on two different days flying over Leyland.

"We saw it at around 4pm on Friday and again at around 6.25pm on Saturday. It’s really strange and I wonder what it is.

"I thought it might be a weather balloon but others have come up with different theories, including the usual “it’s aliens!”, which made me laugh.

"I suspect it is some sort of balloon, but who know’s?”

Weather balloon, space station, hang glider, drone, or...?

The object was spotted by multiple witnesses around Leyland at different times in the day and a number of possible explanations have been put forward.

Some believe it is most likely a drone while others suggested it could be a hang glider enjoying a flight in the sunny weather.

"It's a para glider,” said Emma Walker, adding, “It flies over very often in spring and summer.”

But would a para glider or hang glider be out flying at night, when it was spotted moving at speed over the Farington area on Friday evening?

“I saw this earlier in Farington and thought I was just seeing things. Nobody else saw it,” said one witness.

"I saw it too, I'm in Farington...but it was late evening about 11.15pm?”, added another, who said she saw it “flying over the roof of a new build house on Carr Lane – then it disappeared”.

Others have suggested it might be the International Space Station, but this was reportedly not visible in the sky over Lancashire at the time.

"I saw it Saturday night and it was very high up over Clayton-le-Woods. I just thought it was the space station, though it was moving which I thought was unusual,” said Liz Gent.

Another theory is that it was a weather balloon, but the Met Office confirmed that none of its balloons were reported in the area at the time of the sightings.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: “It doesn’t look like one of our weather balloons to me. We launch balloons from six sites – Lerwick, Watnall, Albemarle, Castor Bay, Herstmonceux and Camborne.

"It’s unlikely on the dates that you’ve mentioned that this is any of our balloons as they don’t always travel very far.”

Chased by jets?

Adding a bit of drama to the mystery, one witness reported that he saw fighter jets roaring through the sky shortly after the object made one of its appearances.

“I saw it too over Clayton-le-Woods, but on Saturday,” said Ash Barker. “Did anyone hear any sound? I couldn't hear anything at all.

"Some jets also went over very loudly a few minutes later, and I wondered if it was a training exercise?”

Was the mystery object being pursued by the Royal Air Force? The Ministry of Defence has been approached for comment.