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From aliens to an over-sized teacup and even a fracking machine – Cambridge News readers have offered numerous explanations as to what the unidentified object seen in a Cambridgeshire field could be.

Several eagle-eyed readers, however, think they’ve solved it – far from a UFO or paranormal sighting, it is instead… an extractor fan.

(Image: Nick Green)

Richard Drinkwater said on our Facebook page that: “It’s the roof of the building owned by DS Smith Sheetfeeding, just west of Sandy. What is shown is one of the extractor fans.”

Andrew Smith concurred, commenting that it "doesn’t look like a field, looks like a roof with a extractor fan”.

No-one yet, however, has been able to explain how or why the fan is not attached to a ceiling but is instead sitting in the rural field.

Nick Green, who spotted it from the old railway bridge between Sandy and Bedford, told the News initially that he was 'confused' by what it could be.

"I saw it and wasn't sure whether it was a piece of machinery, a UFO, anything...I haven't really seen anything like it before" he said.

“I’m not sure how it got there – I just saw it sitting in a field as I was passing.”

Many suggestions had been put forward before the extractor fan was suggested, including Jake 9033’s assertion on our News website that it “must be aliens”.

Lee Parnell, however, saw it as an opportunity to poke fun at Cambridge’s overpriced housing market, commenting on Facebook “That could just be an affordable home, no one in the country has seen one for about 20 years so you never know.”

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