Unusual flying objects have been reported in the skies above Shepton Mallet and Glastonbury, adding to the growing list of unexplained aerial phenomena across the UK.

In Shepton Mallet, witnesses described seeing "two round discs, a dull red colour, following the flight path of an aircraft with no sound, unlike the aircraft." Over Glastonbury, multiple lights were seen moving west to east after a bright light near the Orion constellation suddenly disappeared. Another sighting described a "tic-tac like shape moving very slowly in the sky above Spaxton."

These reports were among 39 sightings documented across the South West in 2023 by British UFO tracker group UFO Identified. Nationally, 395 sightings were recorded last year, a 20% drop from the 497 reported in 2022. These are the most recent figures published by the group.

The data, collected from social media, newspaper reports, over 50 Freedom of Information requests, and direct reports to UFO spotter groups, highlighted the North West as having the highest number of sightings last year, with 41 reports, followed by the South East (40) and the South West (39).

Over the past four years, UFO Identified has documented 233 sightings in the South East, 218 in the North West, and 193 in the South West. Northern Ireland (30) and the North East of England (63) recorded the lowest number of sightings during this period.

Of all sightings reported last year, 48% included photographic or video evidence. A quarter of all sightings were described as "star-like" objects moving across the sky, while other commonly reported shapes included "orbs" (17%), "spheres" (10%), and "cylinders" (9%).

Ash Ellis of UFO Identified said: "Overall, it's disappointing to see such a big decrease in reports this year, especially after the bumper year of 2022. This time last year we were hoping that a reduction in the stigma surrounding the topic would lead to more reports being filed, but this clearly hasn't been the case.

"Hopefully, as we and other groups around the country continue giving people space and a platform to talk about their experiences, that will help more people come forward and be confident to stand up and tell their story.

"Despite the reduced number of reports, we continue to see the same trends across different datasets. Whether that's the area in which sightings are being made, to the time of day, and the described shape of UFOs, these have all been consistent over the past four years. This, to me, tells us that there are areas which are more prone to seeing UFOs and we will be using this data to forecast areas of interest over the coming years."

The increase in documented sightings has coincided with renewed global interest in Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs), the modern term for UFOs. A US congressional hearing recently examined secret research into UAPs, with expert testimony confirming some sightings remain unexplained.

Michael Gold, a former NASA official and member of the UAP Independent Study Team, stated: "The vast majority of UAP are drones," but admitted some objects observed "can move faster than US submarines and are being intelligently controlled."