Residents in Rudloe have heralded the estate “the new Roswell”, after several people reported seeing a strange object in the sky last Sunday.

Jo Collier was among those who saw a burning orange light in the sky shortly after 8pm, and likened it to the infamous UFO incident in New Mexico in 1947, which sparked numerous conspiracy theories.

She said: “I was at my mum’s in Rudloe and my other half came running up the road shouting there was something falling out of the sky.

“It was like this big orange glow, absolutely huge, and the tail was bright, bright orange.

“I have looked online at The Sky at Night website and I can’t see any meteors or comets in our vicinity. It wasn’t an aeroplane, because it was going down; I think it went over the fields in Box.

“I event tweeted Dara Ó Briain, but he didn’t reply.

“I honestly don’t know what it was but it was definitely a strange phenomena in the sky that was travelling quite fast at a really strange angle.

“A lot of other people saw it, everyone’s talking about it. I thought we’re going to have the government round with the men in black to wipe our minds. They’re all saying Rudloe is the new Roswell.”