A UFOLOGIST has admitted that mysterious orange lights repeatedly seen in the night sky could be nothing more than Chinese lanterns. Roy Lake, 71, of the London UFO Studies group, said the glows spotted in Dagenham since October could be cheap sky lante

A UFOLOGIST has admitted that mysterious orange lights repeatedly seen in the night sky could be nothing more than Chinese lanterns.

Roy Lake, 71, of the London UFO Studies group, said the "glows" spotted in Dagenham since October could be cheap sky lanterns let off in groups before suddenly "vanishing" when their candles go out.

In the latest sighting, in the early hours of February 14, Karen Gray was shocked to see several orange orbs over the Heathway that disappeared after three minutes.

On Boxing Day, Linda Hunt, 60, saw four orange lights going along the same trajectory within minutes, supporting the theory they may have been lanterns blown off by winds after being let off, perhaps as a prank.

But Mr Lake, of Tudor Road, Barking, urged witnesses to contact researchers and criticised the Ministry of Defence for pulling the plug on its UFO reporting service in December.

The Government said no report had revealed evidence of a potential UK threat for more than 50 years.

Mr Lake, who has researched UFOs for 55 years, said: "The likes of myself, and any ufologist is going to take this subject very seriously."

He also lent credibility to the triangle UFO sighting near Asda in Merrielands Crescent, Dagenham, on November 30.

Mr Lake said he saw a noisy triangle craft flying very low in Ripple Road, Barking, before it headed off down the River Thames towards central London around six years ago.

He added that increasing numbers of UFOs were set to be captured on camera thanks to the versatility of digital technology.