A UFO in the form of a ball of light slowly traversed the night sky over the western Russian city of Lipetsk before exploding in mid-air. The mystery object’s flight was caught on camera by a number of eyewitnesses.

A mystery light-ball trailing in the sky above Lipetsk in Russia’s west, was spotted by local residents on Tuesday evening, according to social media posts which called the object “a UFO.”

Videos uploaded to Russian social network VKontakte show the mystery flying object leaving a bright tail of light.

The UFO was visible in all parts of Lipetsk, social media users wrote.

“First, there was a bright spot in the sky, then came the light – similar to that of a spotlight – and then it exploded. What was it?” one user asked.

Some opined that the mystery light ball was actually a ballistic missile launch or a stage that had separated from a space rocket.

Others argued it was an emission coming from a nearby steelmaking plant. “Take a deep breath,” another user wrote.

This is not the first time a UFO has flown over Lipetsk, local media report. Back in August, residents spotted “a whole bunch of UFOs,” according to MetroNews website.

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The story comes days after a series of UFO-related news items emerged in international media. In mid-December, the Washington Post reported that Commander David Fravor, who was a Navy pilot for 18 years, saw a mysterious flying object while on a routine training mission off the Pacific coast between San Diego and Ensenada, Mexico, in November 2004.

The pilot said he was ordered by command to do some “real-world tasking” against the object which was roughly the same size as Fravor’s plane but had no wings and looked like a Tic-Tac mint.