STRANGE "orange balls of light" were seen in the skies of Monmouthshire by several witnesses this week.

Following several phone calls to the Chronicle newsroom about reports of lights in the skies and strange disks floating over the town reporters headed to the newspaper library to investigate past reported sightings.

Jill Woodland was the first reader to contact the paper following a "strange" incident near her home in Castleoak, Usk.

She said she watched in amazement as 20 lights floated near her home last Thursday night, "I looked out of the window and they seemed to form a strange wave. They moved over the Raglan and I was so shocked by it I contacted the Police."

Stunned Jill managed to take pictures of the lights and is hoping for some answers.

"The lights were bright orange, like balls of light. Then I saw a strange triangle shape, the lights were equal distances apart. Lots of people must have saw it, I'm not letting it go. I've heard it could be those chinese lanterns but I very much doubt it."

Whatever the shapes were, Jill was quick to point out she is not "crazy" but was keen for other readers to get in touch.

She said: "I don't really know what they were but they are certainly not those lanterns, hot air balloons or aeroplanes. I'm going to investigate it."

Another reader, Michelle Davies, 23, from Raglan, was driving home when she noticed similar objects in the skies above Usk.

"I couldn't believe my eyes, they were quite colourful shaped lights hovering over the Usk area heading in to Raglan. At first I thought it was an aeroplane but since Thursday night I've spoken to three other people who all saw the same thing. It was about 8.45pm when I saw it, I even thought they might have been shooting stars or something but they were definitely unidentified flying objects."

In the Chronicle archives here are just some of the stories where readers spotted unidentified flying objects.

On Thursday, April 8, 1982 a front page article told the story of Abergavenny librarian Jennifar Ham who witnessed a strange objects with light in Goytre. Several motorists also spotted the same sightings as Mrs Hay.

UFO researcher and founder of SPI, Malcolm Robinson said, "The vast majority of sightings can be identified, as much as 95 percent. However, we are still trying to understand the elusive five percent. There has been a lot of chinese lanterns being released but I am sure that the readers know what they saw. I think it's possible that they saw something unusual and I would love to hear from any readers who have seen any sightings."

*If you spot any unidentified flying objects in the skies of Monmouthshire contact Malcolm Robinson on 07949178835 or e-mail: [email protected]">[email protected]. Visit his website at http://www.myspace.com/malcolmrobinsonresearcher">www.myspace.com/malcolmrobinsonresearcher. All calls will be treated confidentially.

*Read Chronicle reporter Tim Butters' weekly 'tongue in cheek' blog for his views on the supernatural.