The X-Factor was on TV and the chat centred around the embarrassment of people on stage. As usual, 23-year-old Owen Evans and his girlfriend Aisling went out for a sneaky cigarette at the front door. Suddenly, they spotted something strange in the dark September sky.

"It was around 9.30pm," said Owen. "It was a very clear night and I noticed a very bright orange ball of light which was travelling at a quick speed and it was bobbing around.

"I called the rest of my family out to have a look and they were amazed at this sight as it flew over. There was no sound, it was completely silent. I called my dad but by then it had gone. Thinking all was over my dad, who was now at the back of the house, called to say there was another (light] on the same flight path as the other. A very bright ball shape which appeared about two minutes after the first."

Luckily Owen, who works in Sainsbury's, grabbed his camcorder in time. "I filmed it from one side of the street and then over my roof," he said. "My mother, brother and girlfriend watched it pass over. My dad, still out the back of the house, watched it streak across the sky.
"Three minutes later the last of them flew over and went out of sight. There were three altogether. We then went inside to put the footage on to the big screen only to see that at one point a smaller object shot straight up in front of it. Now, I have seen the odd thing in the sky but this was different."

The Journal office has watched the footage and it seems genuine. The light bobs around the screen and then vanishes.

Owen has since contacted a UFO site to tell his story. "At first we thought it might be a meteorite but there was no noise or flashing or anything," he said.

The Evans family were sceptical before but now they've witnessed a real life Unidentified Flying Object, they're not so sure anymore. Owen added: "I don't know what they were but there seem to be more and more sightings every day. Maybe we are not as alone as we first thought."
If anyone knows the identity of the mystery objects hovering over Derry on Saturday night then please contact the Derry Journal on 02871272200 or email editorial@derryjournal.com.