People reported seeing an unidentified flying object in the skies amid disruption at East Midlands Airport. Left confused by what they saw, witnesses said the 'UFO' had flashing coloured lights.
Derbyshire Live reports it was filmed in Long Eaton, with the object hovering with red and green lights. But they people in the town were not able to determine the exact nature of the craft in low light as they watched.
But around the same time, plane spotter said that multiple aircraft had been prevented from landing at East Midlands Airport on Thursday night (June 9). East Midlands Airport spotters have theorised that the craft was in fact a drone from the nearby Download Festival.
Read more: Download Festival updates and travel news as thousands arrive for event
Thousands of music fans have been arriving at Donington Park for the UK's largest rock festival which is taking place this weekend, starting today and lasting till Sunday. It was suggested a fan may have launched a drone.
In video footage provided to Derbyshire Live, the object was seen hovering in the sky and filmed from South Street in Long Eaton. One onlooker was heard saying "we might be on X-Files" as they filmed the craft for almost five minutes.
Bill Pearce, who took the video, said: "When I got home from a pool match, my neighbour was outside waving at something in the sky. Initially I looked out and I thought, what is that? Because it was changing colours and what have you. Some years ago, I saw a white light in the sky and it shot over to one side and stopped then did it again to another and then it just shot off and it wasn't a plane but I never saw anything in the news about it.
"People seemed to think that it is a drone when I put the video on Facebook and some comments have said it was a plane but it's not a plane because it didn't make any noise. I think there were some issues that caused aborted landings at East Midlands Airport last night so they may be linked."
According to Flight Radar, several planes had delayed landings at East Midlands Airport on the night of Thursday, June 9, and in the early hours of this morning, Friday, June 10. The flight path of the aircraft shows that some were left circling the airspace above Leicestershire before being cleared to land. Officials at East Midlands Airport were whether the two incidents were linked.
