Chinese lanterns are thought to be behind reports of unidentified flying objects, seen over Folkestone.

As was the case after a wedding in Whitstable earlier this year, the lanterns sparked a number of UFO reports, as they fly through the night sky glowing red,

Folkestone firefighters were called to a hotel on the Leas soon after 10.30pm on Saturday night after several lanterns landed on the building.

It is believed that they were relased by a wedding party at the Leas Cliff Hall, flying over the town.

Various members of the public called emergency services after seeing glowing orbs landing along the coast, also believed to be sky lanterns.

One woman e-mailed the Kentish Express website, www.kentishexpress.co.uk in the belief that they were UFOs.

She said: “At about 10pm on Saturday, looking up at the moon, there were lots of bright orange lights, flying in the same direction past the moon, towards the east.

“Overall there were about 50 unexplained lights in the sky, all flying overhead, quite low, over the time period of about half-an-hour.”

“It is said the lights were hot air balloons but they were travelling far too fast and the light was a constant glow.”

She added: “This is a great opportunity to actually realise that we may not be the only living beings and that we are actually only a small unstable planet in the entire universe.”

uE06E Folkestone has seen several, more spectacular claims of UFOs in the past.

One in 1994 followed sightings of a green saucer-shaped light in the sky over Dover and another, in Burmarsh, took place in 1997. This was the more dramatic claim, with a suggestion from a reporter that a large, triangular object hovered over the Marsh countryside, moving around suddenly.