Mystery sighting has Neil baffled

Sunderland Today, England - 5/6/2004

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Shocked Neil Carter was putting the rubbish out in the backyard of his Sunderland home when a mysterious flashing light caught his eye. Unable to tell exactly what it might be, he rushed inside, grabbed a camera and started snapping away at the banana-shaped object.

Shocked Neil Carter was putting the rubbish out in the backyard of his Sunderland home when a mysterious flashing light caught his eye.

Unable to tell exactly what it might be, he rushed inside, grabbed a camera and started snapping away at the banana-shaped object.

Mr Carter, 40, from Monkwearmouth, said: "At first it appeared to be very small and was bobbing up and down in the sky then it dropped down a bit and got bigger.

"It was all a bit of a shock because there was nothing else in the sky and there appeared to be no explanation as to what it might be"

The sighting, last Saturday at about 9.15pm, was also spotted by Mr Carter's girlfriend.

It comes just weeks after amateur stargazer Alan Toon, 60, from Park Estate, Hetton, spotted two lights flashing above the sky near his home. He had also been walking outside to empty the rubbish when he noticed the mysterious object.

Mr Carter is hoping other people in the area might have seen the lights and could offer him some kind of explanation as to what it might have been.

The self-employed businessman from Devonshire Street, added: "I have always believed there might be other life out there - it would be a shame to think there was only us.

"I really don't know exactly what it was that I saw, but I would certainly like to try and find out. To witness something like this is really very strange"

Reports of unexplained objects in the Wearside skies have stretched back to the 1950s.

One of the oddest was that of Gordon Brown, who spoke to the Echo in 1993 about the events of September 22, 1951, when he went to Roker Park for Sunderland's clash with Portsmouth.

Despite being among thousands of potential witnesses, soldier Gordon struggled to find anyone else to back up his story.

He was standing in the Fulwell End when a man in front of him pointed at something in the sky, a small object shaped like a child's spinning top about 20,000ft up, which hovered above the ground for about half an hour.

In 1996, a strange craft was seen over Hendon, emitting bright yellow rays from its cloud-like centre.

A bumper crop of sightings emerged in August and September 1988, with UFOs spotted over Marsden Grotto, Sunderland and County Durham.