Police confirmed a man reported the sighting.

The man, who did not want to give his name, said he was walking near the cathedral at around 10pm when there was a sudden power cut.

"I looked up at the sky - I was quite frightened. There was a grey thing spinning around and around. About four or five other people were looking up at the sky.

"It went around the cathedral and then disappeared. Then I saw this bright orange ball fly through the sky from Churchgate Street towards the churchyard."

He said a friend had subsequently suggested the sighting might have been something to do with the Christmas fair in the Abbey Gardens and on Angel Hill.

"I'm just puzzled by it all," he said.

A police spokeswoman said: "We did have a report of a large object in the sky for approximately 10 to 12 minutes that looked like a UFO."

She added police had only received one report regarding the sighting.

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