POLICE reports have revealed the number of suspected UFO sightings reported to officers last year.

Following a freedom of information request, Essex Police has released the reports it received last year from residents claiming to have sighted a UFO.

Across Essex, from January 1 in 2021 to December 31 the same year, Essex Police received four reports which claimed to have seen the unidentified flying objects.

The first was recorded on January 17 in Waltham Abbey.

According to a member of the public, they spotted five UFOs while out moutain biking.

They said to Essex Police: "I was out mountain biking and think I saw 5 UFO's spiralling in circles.

"I stopped to have a break after five miles, and looked across the lake and saw them. My friend is with me and saw them too.

"Different coloured lights while going up and now flashing green and blue like a place, but definitely not planes - doubt if they are drones.

"1 can still see one of them flew down the river towards london direction - south.

"They have all gone from my view now one has no reappeared and appears to be glowing. Did not make any noise."

Essex Police next received a UFO sighting from Colchester on May 8.

The residents claimed to have seen "27 lights in the sky" over his street for about a mile.

They saw the lights, which were described as being plain and white, at 10pm.

The police report adds: "He couldn't hear anything, and he checked 'flight tracker' and he couldn't see anything.

"He doesn't know if this was military or not, but it seemed like a lot of lights which isn't usual."

Next up was a sighting reported in Rochford on November 11.

The police report says: "In the garden which backs onto a woods, the caller looked up and saw a metal structure which looked like a long oblong bird.

"When the caller glanced at it, it disappeared, it didn't travel in a direction, to start with it was very low level and flying very fast.

"The caller states that it would not have been a bird as they live in a village this type of bird would travel in groups and they would not be in the area the caller was in at this time of night."

Lastly, Essex Police received a sighting report from Chelmsford on December 12.

Essex Police say the woman spotted five to six lights in the sky at 9.15pm.

The report added: "The lights were dancing around and two shot off and then parted and disappeared they were like balls in the air."