MYSTERY surrounds sightings of a fiery red shape which was seen in the skies above the Holme Valley at the weekend.

Two people contacted the Examiner about the shape which was moving from Cinderhills in the direction of Dunford Bridge.

And the strange sight could be part of a national surge of sightings with people the length and breadth of the country reporting bright orange balls shooting through the sky on Saturday night and strange flickering lights.

More than 200 people contacted UFO Investigations UK claiming to have seen Unidentified Flying Objects on Saturday night. Normally the organisation receives 10 or 15 reports a day.

It has called for an official inquiry.

George Senior from Upper Bank End Road, Holmfirth said: “I looked up and saw what looked like an orange fiery shape travelling towards Cinderhills in Holmfirth from the direction of Wooldale.”

Anita Duce, of Fernside Avenue, Almondbury also contacted the Examiner with details of the shape.

Miss Duce said she was with her family in the garden of their home around 10.10pm when they saw what they thought was a hot air balloon flying low overhead.

It moved quickly and was like an orange ball of fire with a yellow and orange striped top.

Miss Duce added it had a lot of flames, but disappeared quickly over the top of the local high school field.

Family members all took photographs, but none have turned out.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said it had received no calls from the Holme Valley about the shape.

A national newspaper had reports of people in Wakefield, Manchester, Leicester, Basingstoke and West Sussex all spotting mysterious objects in the sky.