Russ Kellett, of South Crescent, Filey, has gathered data spanning 30 years about flying saucers, but believes this latest development could be an essential part of his research.

Mr Kellett, 45, has been working with an expert in image enhancement to look back at video and photographic evidence.

The expert, who Mr Kellett did not want to name, found that some light sources on the footage could not be identified as man-made or natural light.

Mr Kellett said: “The equipment he used can identify all kinds of light known to man, but he was not able to explain the type of light on the video.

“We were able to rule out certain things but were still left with an unidentifiable source of light.

“People are usually gobsmacked when they see this footage and I think this new evidence speaks for itself.”

Mr Kellett said numbers of UFO sightings in North Yorkshire had dipped over the last couple of years but were starting to go up again.

He added that the British UFO Hunters team receives more reports of sightings in North Yorkshire than anywhere else in the UK apart from West Yorkshire, making the region something of a “hotspot”.

l For more information go to www.britishflyingsaucer.com.