Eileen and Stuart Sharp were on holiday in Whitby on Thursday with their granddaughter when they spotted a bright ball of light in the sky glowing yellow and pink.

Eileen said: "It was really bizarre – we watched it come off the North Sea over Whitby harbour. At first we thought it was a hot air balloon but it seemed strange as it was dark.

"When my husband looked through the binoculars he said 'it's not a hot air balloon, it has a dome on the top and rays coming down off it.'

"My granddaughter Francesca was so excited and said it was a flying saucer."

Stuart said: "I reckon it could have been about a thousand foot high, but less than half a mile away."

Eileen added: "You couldn't look at it for too long with the naked eye as it was so bright."

Adamant, it was not a terrestrial plane or a Chinese flying lantern, Eileen concluded: "This is the first thing we have ever seen like this and it was so strange, I wish we had gotten a picture of it. I wonder if anyone here saw them."

* Have you seen a UFO in the Louth or Mablethorpe area? Email gemma.gadd@jpress.co.uk