
Russia has been hit by a wave of reports of a giant UFO in the sky last night with spectacular pictures of an enormous glowing ball illuminating northern Siberia.

Social media erupted with claims of 'aliens arriving' and locals in far flung parts of the country told of 'shivers down their spines'.

While the source of the light has not been confirmed, some have suggested that it was the trace of four rockets launched by the Russian military that caused this extraordinary phenomenon in the night sky.

A similar light was seen in the skies over Norway in December 2009, which was caused by a failed missile. During that incident, the peculiar spiral shaped light pattern was created from reflection of the sun in the leaking fuel.

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Russia has been hit by a wave of reports of a giant UFO in the sky last night with spectacular pictures of an enormous glowing ball illuminating northern Siberia

HOW COULD A MISSILE TEST CREATE THE LIGHT? Vladmir Putin oversaw the launch of four nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as part of a training exercise for Russia's strategic nuclear forces last night. The ministry said a Topol ballistic missile had been test fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia, hitting a target at the Kura military testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula thousands of kilometres (miles) away. It was the the trace of one of these rocket - capable of carrying nuclear missiles - that caused this extraordinary phenomenon in the night sky, say the Russian media. A similar light was seen in the skies over Norway in December 2009, which was caused by a failed missile launch. Speaking to Barents Observer at the time, Dr Truls Lynne Hansen, a researcher at the Tromso Geophysical Observatory, said: 'The missile has probably come out of control and exploded. 'The peculiar spiral shaped light pattern comes from reflection of the sun in the leaking fuel.' Advertisement

Vasily Zubkov posted: 'I went out to smoke a cigarette and thought it was the end of the world.'

The extraordinary scenes were captured by leading Siberian photographer Sergey Anisimov in the town of Salekhard which straddles the Arctic Circle.

'I was taken aback for a few minutes, not understanding what was happening,' he said.

'The glowing ball rose from behind the trees and moved in my direction.

'My first thought was about the most powerful searchlight, but the speed of changing everything around changed the idea of what was happening.

'The ball began to turn into an arc and gradually dissipated.'

After the multi-coloured light show was over he went home to find local children as young as five in the yard babbling about 'aliens' and 'the portal to another dimension', he said.

Some 520 miles further east, another photographer Alexey Yakovlev admitted to feeling scared as he witnessed the UFO spectacle at Strezhevoi, in the north of Tomsk region, reported The Siberian Times.

'At first I thought - it is such a radiance of such an unusual form, round in shape.

'But gradually the ball began to expand, it became clear that this is not some radiance and it became scary.

'It's good that I was not alone....a group of people cannot hallucinate.'

On social media, Anastasia Boldyreva posted simply: 'Aliens arrived.'

The extraordinary scenes were captured by leading Siberian photographer Sergey Anisimov in the town of Salekhard which straddles the Arctic Circle

Social media erupted with claims of 'aliens arriving' and locals in far flung parts of the country told of 'shivers down their spines'

While the source of the light remains unknown, local experts suggest there were two possible reasons for the eerie spectacle in the Siberian night sky

The lights could be seen in northern Siberia, and one photographer captured stunning images of the sight from the town of Salekhard which straddles the Arctic Circle

The were many similar messages. Nurgazy Taabaldiev claimed: 'It's a gap in the space-time continuum.'

While the source of the light has not been confirmed, not all are convinced it was a Russian rocket test.

Some local experts suggest it may have been caused by the Northern lights.

But the most common theory is that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin had chosen this moment to frighten the West with grandiose military exercises by his strategic nuclear forces.

Putin personally oversaw the launch of four nuclear-capable ballistic missiles as part of a training exercise for Russia's strategic nuclear forces, the Kremlin said on Friday, the Interfax news agency reported.

The test launches, conducted last night, involved land, air, and submarine-based ballistic missiles, Russia's defence ministry said in a separate statement.

The ministry said a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile had been test fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia, hitting a target at the Kura military testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula thousands of kilometres (miles) away.

Photographer Alexey Yakovlev admitted to feeling scared as he witnessed the UFO spectacle at Strezhevoi, in the north of Tomsk region. He said: 'At first I thought - it is such a radiance of such an unusual form, round in shape. But gradually the ball began to expand, it became clear that this is not some radiance and it became scary'

After the multi-coloured light show was over, photographer Sergey Anisimov went home to find local children as young as five in the yard babbling about 'aliens' and 'the portal to another dimension', he said

The first explanation for the sight was that a vivid display of the Northern Lights - or Aurora Borealis - was underway. This is why photographers were out watching the sky when the suspected UFO appeared

When the light appeared, missile tests were underway from submarines and aircraft last night, and the exercises included the launch of a super-powerful Topol rocket from Plesetsk cosmodrome, 550 miles north of Moscow

It was the likely the traces of one of these rockets - capable of carrying nuclear missiles - that caused this extraordinary phenomenon in the night sky, say the Russian media.

As photographer Mr Yakovlev accurately guessed: 'It seems I accidentally shot the launch of a secret space rocket from Plesetsk'.

It was the the trace of this rocket - capable of carrying nuclear missiles - that caused this extraordinary phenomenon in the night sky, say the Russian media

Photographer Alexey Yakovlev accurately guessed: 'It seems I accidentally shot the launch of a secret space rocket from Plesetsk'

NORTHERN LIGHTS The impressive Northern Lights can sometimes be seen by people in high-altitude regions, including Sweden, Iceland and Scotland. There are two types of auroras - Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights), which means 'dawn of the north', and Aurora Australis, 'dawn of the south.' The lights are created when charged particles from the sun enter Earth's atmosphere. Usually the particles are deflected by the Earth's magnetic field, but some enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles. These collisions emit light in many colours, although pale green and pink are common. Advertisement

Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Manual, told MailOnline: 'This looks amazing and it is not surprising the sight of it caused witnesses to think of aliens and the opening of a portal to another dimension.

'These fantastic possibilities are shot down by the prosaic explanation that this strange light phenomena was caused by the testing of an intercontinental missile.

'This seems like a poor explanation for something so spectacular but other rocket launches have caused similar spectacles.

'In particular, in December 2009 a stunning spiralling light was seen over Norway, which was caused by a failed Russian missile test.

'They may not be of an alien origin but we can certainly admire their beauty, even if they are caused by weapons of mass destruction.'

A similar light was seen in the skies over Norway in December 2009, which was caused by a failed missile launch.

Speaking to Barents Observer at the time, Dr Truls Lynne Hansen, a researcher at the Tromso Geophysical Observatory, said: 'The missile has probably come out of control and exploded.

'The peculiar spiral shaped light pattern comes from reflection of the sun in the leaking fuel.'