The mystery of a helicopter that baffled onlookers after it appeared in an underground hotel car park has apparently been solved.

The red and black chopper was seen in the basement of Mövenpick Hotel, in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, taking up three car parking spaces.

Confused guests wondered how the craft got into a basement and who left it there. Readers of The National were also intrigued, after we published the picture on Friday.

But, it turns out, the answer was simple – it was not a real helicopter after all.

It is in fact a replica whirlybird ordered by one of the hotel’s restaurants, to be used as an attraction for guests over the Christmas and New Year period. The lack of an engine or other working parts made it easy to transport, explaining how it could be taken underground.

And it is parked up while hotel managers wait for permission for the Dubai authorities to display it in public, a hotel source told Khaleej Times.

"Three of us conveniently placed it on a cart and brought it down the way cars come into the basement," the insider said.

The explanation will reassure the Australian resident who first spotted the helicopter, with the bizarre scene initially causing them to question their own sanity.

"I was trying to get to Pizza Express and happened to get out on the wrong floor. I saw the helicopter taped off in a parking spot. It was on basement level three which made it even more insane," they said.

"I have no idea how it got there and what made it so weird was that it was parked in the lower basement of a building.

"This is the first time i have seen it and for a second, I thought I had lost my mind."