This website has got to the bottom of the baffling Luton Hoo UFO mystery that emerged last week.

Guests at the plush five-star hotel spotted a strange cluster of orange lights in the sky in the early hours last Sunday.

The bizarre spectacle prompted Linda Hall, who was staying at the Hoo, to get in touch in the hope that someone could explain what she had seen.

And thanks to staff at nearby Luton Airport, that has now happened.

Airport workers saw the article in this newspaper last week and got in touch to explain what guests had seen were Chinese lanterns, believed to have been released in Hertfordshire.

A spokeswoman from the airport said that the lanterns, which were similar to hot air balloons, had been seen drifting above the airport.

Eagle-eyed reader Mark Way said: 'I was at Luton Airport that night and about three of these strange objects were recovered from the airfield.

'They are a simple bag type object designed to carry a candle whose heat generated causes them to rise.'

Yesterday the airport said anyone who plans on releasing lanterns should get clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority before doing so.

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