STRANGE lights in the night and UFOs have brought a bizarre talking point for villagers and townsfolk alike. The people of Litchfield, near Whitchurch, where a corn circle appeared last Friday, are no strangers to unexplained phenomena.

Residents of the tiny hamlet of Dunley-within a stone's throw of the Litchfield corn imprint, have been seeing strange lights in the night sky for more than two years. They claim the lights, some of which are red and green, form the outline of a clock.

Norman Buckingham first made the sighting. "We've had all sorts of strange things happen over here" he said, adding: "If these things are stars, I'm a bloody idiot." Neighbour Rita Constable said the lights gave off immense power and were visible most nights. She has even shown them to relatives. "I've got terrible eyes, but I can see it so clearly," she said.

Meanwhile residents of the Buckskin, Basingstoke, believe they spotted a UFO at the weekend.

A women living in Cambrian Way, Buckskin, who wished to remain anonymous, said she saw a "black, round ball" in the sky at about 9.15pm on Sunday. "It suddenly shot off at the speed of light," she said. Her three-year old son also spied the object.

A man living opposite sighted something identical the night before. A spokesman for Airborne Aviation, based at Popham Airfield, said the "black ball" object could possibly be a hot-air balloon. He heard no reports of UFOs or strange occurrences over the weekend. Commenting on the Litchfield lights, he said aircraft displayed green and red lights. Nearby RAF bases a Odiham and Boscombe Down have been night-flying lately, he said. Basingstoke Police said they had received no reports of UFO sightings.

Note: In another article in same newspaper, the corn circle mentioned was dissmissed as the work of 'rural vandals'..