A woman who was celebrating her birthday has thrown some light on the mystery of the strange orange glows over Calne last week.

Arty Greig, of Rookery Park, believes they may have been sky lanterns let off at a party thrown by her friends.

One family were baffled at the time. Trevor Vincent spotted several glowing orbs above his home in Westerham Walk at around 10.30pm on, August 15, and thought they could have been UFOs.

But Mrs Greig said: “It is such a simple explanation. There is nothing sinister behind it. They are sky lanterns – small balloons made of paper, with a little wick that you light and then let off into the sky.

“We saw them go off in the direction of Cherhill so quite a few people must have seen them. We regularly use them.”

Mrs Greig was at the party in The Pippin with a group of friends when they let off around 15 lanterns.

“It is so funny because my husband heard people discussing the lights in the sky afterwards,” said Mrs Greig.

She was amazed to see the article in the Gazette.

“With Wiltshire being big on UFOs, I suppose people might think it was something a lot more unusual than it was.”

Meanwhile, farmers and veterinary experts are concerned about the wire structures of the lanterns, which can reach farmland up to 30 miles from their launch.

They say the wire could easily be picked and chopped with grass gathered to produce silage, the feed given to cattle in the winter.

Robert Sheasby, rural surveyor at the National Farmers’ Union, said: “I am telling all members to contact country venues and to put them on notice it could be a negligible act to release lanterns near farmland.”

The RSPCA wants to contact importers to see if the design can be changed.

Its senior scientific officer Marc Cooper said: “There is a serious threat to cattle who ingest this wire.