A couple said they "thought they were seeing things" as the sky outside their window began flashing red, blue and green.
Emily Timmins and her partner Allison were at their home in Old Swan when Allison noticed the sky begin flashing at around 11pm on Saturday January 28. Emily, 22, said she thought her partner was "seeing things" at first.
Footage shows the strange lights high in the sky over Liverpool, flashing in intervals with seemingly no explanation.
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Student Emily told the ECHO: "I was half asleep when my partner told me that the sky was flashing all different colours. I thought she was just seeing things at first.
"She was obviously shocked to see that in the sky and we have no idea what it could have been."
The flashing reportedly went on for around four hours, starting at around 11pm and finishing at around 2.20am on Sunday morning.
It's not the first time people have reported seeing strange lights in the sky over Merseyside this year. On January 3, Dawn McKay-Dobbing caught orange lights on camera from across the water in Wallasey, which she initially believed were coming from a fire.
Dawn said: "The whole sky was pulsing orange so my original thought of 'it was a fire' was dismissed because of the way it was flashing/pulsing."
People soon replied to the posts about the lights on social media suggesting they were coming from flares at Stanlow Oil Refinery in Ellesmere Port.
According to a statement on Essar's website, flares, which allow the controlled burning of gases, are "important safety devices used as part of refining and petrochemical processes."
The statement added: "They are used throughout the industry as a safety mechanism to ensure process units do not exceed safety limits. The use of flares is minimised wherever possible. However, flaring can occur during unplanned operational interruptions, scheduled downtime and sometimes during a start-up and shutdown.
"To avoid releasing gases directly into the atmosphere, excess gas is burnt in a controlled, environmentally effective manner. A pilot light at the top of each flare burns continually, so the flare is available when needed."
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