Orange UFO sighting

09 September 2005

Janet with her son Daniel scan the sky

Acacia Avenue has become synonymous with leafy suburbia where nothing ever happens - but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore for one family in the Elm Park road of that name.

For the down-the-to-earth Smalley family, the idea of visitors from outer space was - well, alien - but they are now having to reassess their ideas after witnessing a baffling light display in the night sky above their home.

It all happened on Monday, August 30, at about 10pm as 53-year-old Janet Smalley was getting a breath of fresh air outside.

She suddenly spotted something in the sky, spurring her to summon her family to the back garden.

Undulating

One of her two sons, Daneil, 25, brought his binoculars with him. He said: "I thought it was a balloon at first - it was orange - but once I looked through my binoculars I could see it was undulating like a jellyfish.

"I couldn't get a clear enough view. The lights seemed to flicker like flames and were bright. The balloon had several little points of light in the centre of it, almost in a triangular arrangement.

"There were three in all; each was about a minute or two apart and appeared in sequence from left to right across the sky.

"They floated off towards Romford over the houses, all the time getting higher and higher. It was like a firework, but its course was too direct. It disappeared into the stars."

Her other son, Alan, 28, and husband Peter, 53, were also awestruck as they watched the amazing lightshow.

For full story see this week's Romford Recorder