By Jonathan BarnesA MYSTERIOUS circle in the sky had East Anglians scratching their heads last night.The giant halo was spotted above the region from about 5.

By Jonathan Barnes

A MYSTERIOUS circle in the sky had East Anglians scratching their heads last night.

The giant halo was spotted above the region from about 5.30pm yesterday, leaving people wondering if they had just seen a UFO.

A number of readers contacted the East Anglian Daily Times to report the sightings from towns and villages across Suffolk.

EADT designer, Chris Mills, captured the phenomenon on camera from a spot close to Ipswich Railway Station.

“I'd just left the station when I saw a plane in the sky making vapour trails,” he said.

“But in front of it, and seemingly much lower in the sky, was a perfectly round cloud - like a halo above the area around the Ipswich Town stadium.

“I had a camera with me, so I took a picture of it. It's either one for the X Files or means the Blues can do no wrong.”

Jim Keating, from Fornham St Martin, spotted the giant halo while driving in Bury St Edmunds at about 6pm.

“It was like a vapour trail, but a complete circle and must have been about 20 to 30 metres across. I don't know what it was - I've never seen anything like it before,” he said.

Dale Scott also spotted the mysterious ring from his home in Framsden, near Framlingham, and took a couple of pictures on his digital camera.

“It was very strange, like a massive smoke ring in the sky. I've got no idea what it was,” he said.

There was speculation whether the halos were rings around the moon, caused by refraction of moonlight from ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Neither EADT weatherman, Ken Blowers, or Roy Gooding, from the Orwell Astronomical Society, could shed any light on the mystery. The National Air Traffic Services could not help either.

But a meteorological officer at Wattisham Airfield said the halo had probably been caused by an aircraft.

“It was a condensation trail that formed an exact circle, which was visible before sunset. We don't think it was a crystal cloud around the sun or the moon,” he added.

“We don't think it was anything extra special - it was probably an aircraft having a jolly.”

jonathan.barnes@eadt.co.uk