In recent years, several UFO sightings have been resolved as being fire balloons. These can be home-made but there has been an increase in commercially available fire balloons for use at weddings and other outdoor events.

They look dramatic and can fool even the trained observer. The Fleetwood area of Lancashire was plagued with them for a few years and recently the Halewood area of Merseyside has had its own Close Encounter of the Fired Kind. One of the hoaxers has come forward and allowed Merseyside’s UFO and paranormal investigation group MARA to see him in the process of firing the balloons up and launching them. The MARA site features a variety of Identified Flying Objects (IFOs) and shows just how and why they have been perceived as UFOs.