It's the sort of sight you would expect to see in an episode of Doctor Who - a strange black object with a light coming from it floating silently in the twilight sky. But this is exactly what council worker Stewart Davis witnessed while on his rounds closing parks and cemeteries on Friday night.
The father-of-two was driving along Brasenose Avenue in Gorleston at about 8.15pm after locking the Magdalen Way car park when he glanced skywards and noticed something unusual.
Stopping his car at the roadside, the GYB Services worker stood on the pavement and couldn't believe his eyes.
“I thought it was a helicopter at first,” said Mr Davies, “but it was quite low and it didn't make any noise, so it couldn't have been.”
The strange black object shaped like a telephone box caught the attention of another driver who stopped and watched it drifting slowly in the air.
Mr Davies said: “The man asked me 'What the hell is that?' but neither of us could work out what it was.
“It looked like a wheelie bin or telephone box with fire coming out of the bottom. It was just floating sideways and didn't make any noise. It was the strangest thing.”
Mr Davis, of Robin Avenue, Bradwell, took pictures of the object on his mobile phone.
“The other chap who was standing with me had a camera and got some pictures.
“It was slowly moving over the rooftops of houses and we thought it was going to crash into a house. By this time several other people walking by had stopped to take a look, but no one could work out what it was.”
The object disappeared out of view behind the James Paget University Hospital.
“I drove about for a little while but I could see anything,” said Mr Davis.
Becoming something of an X-Files' Mulder, Mr Davis has been showing the pictures to his work colleagues.
“I wanted to see if anyone could tell me what it was, but no one has any reasonable explanation for it.”
Mr Davis admitted that while most of his colleagues were interested in the picture, some had found the lighter side of the story.
“Some people have said it must have been a rocket in a wheelie bin, but I definitely saw fire coming from the bottom.
“I'm curious to find out what it was and whether anyone else saw it,” added Mr Davis.
The Mercury contacted police this week who confirmed they'd received no reports of UFOs in the Gorleston area on Friday night.
UFO Mystery Over Gorleston
UFO Mystery Over Gorleston
