The mystery over the floating man spotted above Medway has been solved.

We can reveal it was not a bird, or a plane, it was actually a Star Wars balloon which had escaped from a nearby home after a birthday celebration.

Rainham resident Mark Taylor took pictures of what appeared to be a man floating in the sky, on his mobile phone from his back garden during a storm.

One image taken by the double-glazing specialist showed what looked like a man holding a gun.

The 49-year-old later shared the images with his family and friends on Facebook, with some people living nearby also reporting the strange sight.

Our sister paper the Medway Messenger checked with police but no one else had reported it to them and a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority had no information.

But when the story was published on KentOnline mother-of-two Katrina Jimenez, who lives in Otterham Quay Lane, got in touch with the paper to solve the mystery.

She had bought a Star Wars Stormtrooper balloon for her son Dylan’s fifth birthday party, but it escaped a few days later from their home during stormy weather.

Housewife Ms Jimenez, 31, said: “I think this was my Stormtrooper balloon that flew out of our house that day.

“We saw it on KentOnline and thought ‘will we get into trouble?’

“I am sorry to disappoint everyone but there is no alien. It was just our Stormtrooper which escaped in the storm.

"I bought it for my son’s fifth birthday party, but I never thought I’d see it on the news.

“My eldest son, Jacob, 10, thinks the whole thing is hilarious.”

Speaking earlier, Mr Taylor’s daughter, Becky, said she laughed at her dad when he told her about his mystery pictures.

The 24-year-old said: “I thought he was messing me around, just having fun.

“When I told him I didn’t believe him, he got a bit offended as he was not mucking about.

“Someone on Facebook said it looked like a Stormtrooper balloon.”