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A packed holiday jet had a near-miss at 1,500ft with a rocket made from FIZZY DRINKS bottles, it has emerged.

The Airbus A321 flight was leaving Birmingham Airport when the pilot spotted a UFO from the cockpit.

It passed "very close" to the starboard side of the aircraft but did not make contact, said air safety body UKAB which investigated the incident.

In a report, it was described as "rocket shaped and the size of 2 x 2litre fizzy drink bottles."

The pilot said it passed just 100ft vertically and 200m horizontally from his aircraft.

It is believed the UFO was probably a DIY water bottle rocket sent up in to the air by an amateur enthusiast.

VIDEO: Bang Goes the Theory explores how to make a bottle rocket at home - please adhere to Air Traffic Control guidelines and do not fire near airports

But is thought to be the first time any has reached such height as to encounter an aircraft.

Local rocketing groups were contacted by the UKAB and said there were no meetings held at the time of the incident at around 9.50am on August 18 last year.

By law, anyone wanting to fire a rocket which has a motive power exceeding 160 Newton-seconds has to contact Air Traffic Control.

(Image: BPM MEDIA)

Making water bottle rockets is a popular science experiment.

A large bottle is partially filled with water or another liquid and then compressed with a pump until the pressure fires it into the air.

The world record height reached for a water bottle rocket 2,723ft.

The air watchdog said it had ultimately been unable to trace the source of the rocket.

The near-miss was categorised as a Category B incident, the second most serious on the watchdog's scale.