Bright orange lights lit up the sky across Merseyside in what people said looked like an "alien invasion".
Dawn McKay-Dobbing caught the lights on camera from across the water in Wallasey this morning, 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."
Dawn was not the only person who took to Facebook and Twitter this morning to question where the lights were coming from. One person tweeted: "Don't know if they're burning something off at the Stanlow Oil Refinery but the sky's bright orange and I'm about 15 miles away."
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Sharing a video of the lights, another said: "Alien invasion or Stanlow burning off? A view from Upton at 6am. Been going on for hours now."
A third added: "Have aliens landed in the night? The hell is this!?"
Another said: "Looks like something off Stranger Things lol."
Elsewhere in the Liverpool City Region, Scott Griffiths saw the sky turn orange over Heath Park in Runcorn at around 11.30pm last night (Sunday). Vicky Dutton also saw the sky turn orange over Cheshire and Merseyside a few days earlier on December 30.
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.
"The gases are combined with steam and burned off to ensure maximum combustion and minimise emissions. The use of steam can occasionally lead to a rumbling sound. This is a normal part of the process and is nothing to be concerned about."
The ECHO has approached Essar over whether Stanlow Oil Refinery is the source of the lights, but they are yet to respond.
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