Details of a mysterious orange object hovering in the night skies above Bradford can be found within the latest batch of UFO files released by The National Archives today.

The dome-shaped UFO, reported by a number of people in the Woodside area, was among hundreds of reported sightings and close encounters that landed on the MoD’s ‘UFO desk’ before it eventually closed in 2009.

A UFO researcher, who was dispatched to investigate the Woodside sightings on September 14, 1996, was driving east along the M62 between junctions 25 at Brighouse and 26 at Chain Bar when he too spotted something unusual.

In his report, he wrote: “We noticed a large cigar shaped object which had an orange glow, it had a red flashing light on its rear and it seemed to be in the Hartshead area of the sky.

“I can’t say if the object was moving as my car was gaining speed and then the object simply vanished.”

On arriving at Woodside, the researcher took accounts from “a very concerned lady” who had seen the object hovering over a block of flats near her home and another eight people who had all seen “strange lights in the sky.”

The reports were taken seriously enough to be sent to air traffic authority Nats and RAF Menwith Hill, but neither had any knowledge of anything untoward in the area on that night, although Nats pointed out the area is near a popular flight path.

Meanwhile, officials at Leeds Bradford Airport revealed the West Yorkshire Police helicopter was active in the area that evening.

The latest UFO files also include the unlikely tale of a peeved punter from Leeds who believed his 100-1 bet on alien life being discovered on Earth before the end of the century was a winner.

He approached the Government for evidence to support his claim when Ladbrokes refused to pay out. While the MoD said they were open-minded about extra-terrestrial life they had no evidence of its existence.

Modern reports of UFO sightings reached a peak in 1996 when there were more than 600 reported sightings across the UK. Dr David Clarke, author of The UFO files and Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University said: “In 1996 there were more than 600 reports, 343 letters from the public and 22 enquiries from MPs, perhaps related to the popularity of shows such as The X-Files at the time.”