A DAISY Hill man believes he has an explanation for reports of UFO sightings over Rivington.

Many Bolton skywatchers contacted the Bolton Evening News claiming to have seen red and green lights coming from an object shaped like a satellite dish.

But Allan Roberts, 56, of St George's Avenue, believes people may have seen a meteor.

At certain times throughout the year, meteor showers cross the earth's orbit and some burn up in the atmosphere.

Mr Roberts said: "I saw something in the sky just after midnight earlier this month when I was putting the car in the garage.

"It was a clear night and I looked at the sky trying to find the Hale Bopp comet.

"The second I raised my eyes I saw something streak across the sky for about three or four seconds before tailing off and burning out.

"It was white and appeared to be moving extremely fast towards the Rivington area.

"It moved in a straight line and did not change direction. I have seen something like this before and watched a TV programme recently which showed a meteor in the sky.

"I am sure I saw a meteor. It had a head and a tail burning off."

But Mr Roberts' sighting differs in a number of ways from those reported by other BEN readers.

Many people saw lights at about 9pm on Easter Sunday. Mr Roberts' sighting was more than 24 hours later.

The earlier sightings were of a disc-shaped object with red and green lights.

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