Watching the skies for mysterious UFOs

Blackpool is now a growing hub for those who want to believe, as a network for reported UFO sightings opens in the resort.

Tim Bartrop, 52, founded the Lancashire UFO Sightings Network in his youth, and now hopes to revive the club to provide the people of Blackpool with a viable alternative to the Ministry Of Defence’s UFO desk, which closed down in 2009.

He said: “The Ministry of Defence closed down its UFO service in 2009 and since then nobody has had anything to report UFO sightings to.

“That’s why I have opened this up in Blackpool.”

Tim, who lives off Central Drive, was inspired to form a group for believers to report their findings after his first and only encounter with the unexplained while growing up in Darnall, Sheffield.

He said: “I decided to call for my best friend at the time , who lived three doors up from me.

“As we were both star gazers we decided to go to the bottom of the street where the park is to get a better view of the sky above Darnall.

“We both had noticed this bright light in the sky, as well as other stars moving towards us.

“They were rectangle in shape and three of them joined up. It was very bright, with no sound. They must have been about 500 yards above the houses.”

He now hopes to encourage the people of Blackpool to come forward with stories of their own UFO sightings.

He said: “Blackpool and Lancashire is a hotspot for UFO sightings.”

Two UFOs were said to have been spotted in the sky over Fleetwood in 2015, and one over Lytham and St Annes the year before.

People who wish to report a UFO sighting to the Lancashire UFO Sighting Network (LUFOS) can email [email protected].