DARTFORD, Bromley and Forest Hill are favourite places for alien craft to visit, if UFO sightings released by the National Archives are to be believed.

A spaceship which disturbed electrical equipment, a car pursued in Hayes, a UFO crashing into Bexley woodland and a terrifying vision in Bromley which led to a police investigation have all been recorded. Here, we list the places with the most UFO sightings in the area - and uncover some very strange stories.

Lewisham - 2 sightings

One lucky Lewisham resident was left seeing stars on Valentine's Day 1996. They reported "a round star-shaped object" that was stationary and very high in the sky to the north. One year before, on July 7, a shiny ball-shaped object was sighted flying over the observer's house, around 50 to 60ft high above the ground.

Beckenham - 3 sightings

Just a handful of sightings by the people of Beckenham, including one of a terrifying oval-shaped object "seen hovering below the top level of a block of flats". Spotted in the early evening of April 20 1995, the menacing object was grey in colour and moved quietly and quickly into the distance. Two years later another object, this time round with red, green and blue colouring was seen brightly shining in the sky and moving east.

Bexley - 3 sightings

Could aliens be walking among us in Bexley? In something that sounds like a sci-fi movie a "huge UFO" is reported to have come down in the woods near Bexley back on August 3 1997. The files give away no further details on the extraordinary event's exact location. More recently, in 2007, there were reported of more than 50 lights floating in the sky. They were red and orange in colour. Were they Chinese lanterns or alien craft, looking for a lost friend?

Brockley - 3 sightings

Brockley is a hotspot for strange visitations, and not just the hirsute, skinny jeans-clad people arriving on the East London Line. On June 15 1993, three triangular shaped objects, red, white and black in colour were reported flying alongside an aeroplane before shooting ahead of it, coming together and then vanishing into thin air. The incident, which lasted for up to four minutes, was seen by a witness at John Stainer Primary School during a lunch break. Six years later, one Brockley resident spotted a "boomerang shaped object, silent, moving in a north east direction."

Bexleyheath - 3 sightings

A trio of alien sightings in Bexleyheath, perhaps drawn by the magnificent Broadway shopping. One sighting on September 1993 sounds truly frightening - "a large red and black mass" passing over the observer's house towards the A20. Three years later, a "huge triangular-shaped object", grey in colour, was reported gliding slowly in the sky towards Canary Wharf.

Orpington - 3 sightings

There's more to life in Orpington than the Walnuts. In something that sounds like a classic flying saucer description, a "silver metallic dome shaped object" was reported very high in the sky on August 29 1995. The object had around 20 white lights which turned orange and red. Bringing us more up to date, on October 17 2009, 25 red and orange lights with a vapour trial passed over the Orpington skyline, spinning off and disappearing into blue and green colours.

Dartford - 5 sightings

If you're sick of waiting at the Dartford Crossing, why not hitch a life on a spaceship? There has been a high concentration of UFO sightings here including two unusual objects in 1988. That March, a white balloon-shaped object seen moving slowly in the sky before disappearing. The object had a black stripe on its side which changed thickness as it flew. And in December a triangular-shaped object with lights along its sides was seen moving sharply to the left and the west.

Hayes - 5 sightings

One Hayes driver had the scariest journey of their life back in 1996. They reported being followed in their car by a large, silent blue light hovering around 15ft off the ground., the driver reported "a time loss" during the event. What happened during those lost minutes? Other sightings include a spooky experience in 1988 where one small oblong-shaped object was reported to the north east, moving slowly on a constant course. The object was "very bright and silver in appearance".

Forest Hill - 6 sightings

The residents of Forest Hill have had a hard time from UFOs, which have been bypassing and targeting their houses. On May 24 2001, one person saw "an alien craft" near their home and reported disturbances to their electrical equipment. The craft was described as a "disc with a beam of light coming from it." On another occasion, a strange object with three green lights in triangular formation was spotted hovering over the observer's house before disappearing all of a sudden. The UFO made a "humming, screeching sound".

Bromley - 10 sightings

Bromley is the king of UFO sightings in the south east, and has some of the highest figures in the country. If an alien's motto really is "take me to your leader", Councillor Stephen Carr must have been a very busy man. Among the usual sightings of strange lights in the sky, one particular incident on November 2003 sparked the interest of the Met Police. A family filmed 20 to 30 red flashing lights in the sky accompanied by a terrifying "whirring noise". Police and even a Met helicopter also witnessed the sight. One policeman concluded the lights "were zigzagging/ turning across the sky at a speed faster than any man-made aircraft". The Met asked the Ministry of Defence whether radar tapes for the area showed anything unusual. But the response was that nothing out of the ordinary had been detected and, tantalisingly, that no aircraft were in the sky at that time.

- We found these alien encounters using the National Archives' UFO Files UK app.