Sir – On New Year’s Eve I went to a party in Magdalen Road and left at about 12.20am.

There were still fireworks going off at intervals and as I walked home I noticed a strange flying object followed after a minute or so by another and later by two more.

They appeared from over the SS Mary & John churchyard. At first I thought they must be some sort of balloon, but they were silent and it looked as if they were travelling really fast and at a considerable height.

They seemed to be travelling at a height that was further up than the rockets going off around them. This height could explain the silence, but the speed they travelled at was amazing. Each of them consisted of a kind of red platform with fire like red flames shooting up vertically from it. These ‘flames’ were not affected by any wind nor did they appear to diminish as the objects flew on towards Iffley. I walked on up Divinity Road and suddenly there were four more objects crossing the sky; three were similar but had a much whiter light and were in more of a cluster, but the fourth one may give a clue as it still had a small red ball-shaped kite appearing to pull it along.

I am sure they were something to do with the celebrations rather than UFOs, but how they came to be there is something I should love to know.

Sarah Lasenby, Oxford