Sparkling UFO spotted soaring through skies above Bristol leaves locals baffled

A mysterious silver unidentified flying object seen in the sky over England has left locals puzzled.

The UFO was spotted on Sunday glistening in the sky near Bristol.

A local resident in North Filton snapped the shiny object, which looked to have some sort of string-like detail hanging from it.

And while extraterrestrial enthusiasts will be encouraged by the apparent rocket-like shape in one of the pictures, there could be a more plausible explanation in the form of a weather balloon, or even a helium balloon which escaped from its owners.

In one of the images the object appears to have an S-like shape, which could potentially be a foil '2' or '5' shaped helium balloon which are a popular feature of children's parties.

An unidentified shiny object has been spotted in the sky near Bristol (David Leahy)

The resident who took the photos, David Leahy, said in quotes reported by Bristol Live : "I was about to get a Chinese carryout when I spotted it.

“A few people were taking pictures when they saw me taking some.

"It's probably just a weather balloon, but you never know! It was ascending slowly I think - no sudden movements, so probably not ET!"

It's not the first time a 'UFO' has been spotted in the skies above Bristol. Last year two separate sightings took place in the space of 30 hours in the skies above Kingswood.

The first sighting was made by Claudiu Ilie at about 7.20pm on Saturday, July 17, from his flat - he photographed and then filmed a strange silver object that appeared to be very, very high in the bright blue early evening sky.

The second sighting took place the following day, at around 10pm, when Martha Thompson, 12, and her father Graeme saw a remarkably strange object in the sky from Chase Road in Kingswood. Low down, just above the houses, Martha filmed a circular orange light in the dusk sky.

It didn’t move - and when it disappeared, she captured on camera a silver object streaking away from it high into the sky.

It seems that July is a good month for UFO-spotting and it's also the month with a day dedicated to Unidentified Flying Objects. World UFO Day takes place on July 2, annually.