My wife and kids have been ridiculing me since last Saturday when I saw a similiar thing in Fairlie(where I live) also on Saturday, but happened aroung 8.30pm.

I haven't told anyone else in case anybody that I was a loony, but obviously seeing your story in the paper has made me wonder what it was I saw!

Firstly can I say that I am NOT a UFO nut or anything.

I don't believe in such a thing, however what I saw was odd-and I've never seen anything like it before. I am 50 years old.and before you ask, I hadn't been drinking, I was simply in my kitchen getting a cup of coffee during the break of X Factor on TV.

I looked out of the kitchen window (it was pitch black obviously) and saw a glowing orange "thing" roughly in the same sort of area that you'd see the moon and thought it was just the sky making the moon appear orange ( a sunset type of effect).

However when I went right up to the window I could see it was moving-and my immediate thought was it's a plane on fire and it seemed to be moving to the side.

I then thought NO your eyes are playing tricks, but no it was definitely there. Just as it was going out of eyeshot of the window, I dived downstairs to go outside and looked up, where this "thing" was still glowing orange (as if on fire)-it didn't appear to be too high up, there was no sound, and it still seemed to be moving to the side, then after another 20-30 seconds it went straight up... there appeared to be some separation high up when it seemed to suddenly move to the right, straighten up, move to the left, then fall a bit and then shot up till it faded really quickly.

I have no explanation as to what it could have been. The "orange flames" is the thing which is confusing me - if it were planes or helicopters lights are they not red ?..The colour I saw was 100% definitely orange.

We do have a rescue helicopter which flies around quite regularly- I've seen it low before and doing odd manoeuvres out at sea-but nothing like the thing I saw on Saturday very very odd indeed - a hot air balloon perhaps ??????? In Fairlie ????? Don't think so somehow.

As I said previously I've never seen anything like this before-so it would be interesting to find out what it was-as there must be a simple and logical explanation for what it was.

Can you let me know if you get any other readers with any other sightings like this last Saturday 12-12-09 in our area at 8.30pm?

Thanks, Derek Fairlie (senior) Thanks, Editor's Note - The Geminid meteor shower took place during this weekend.