The village of Cottered, located not far from Stansted sted airport has been thrust into the middle of the UFO debate after a disc-shaped object was spotted early on Wednesday August 3.

It all started when sports reporter Mike Sewell, speaking on BBC Radio 5 described seeing a strange sighting as he drove through Cottered on the A507 at around 4.50am whilst on his way to Stansted Airport to cover a football game in Sweden.

"I just noticed in the sky straight ahead looking like it was descending was what I thought was plane with a bright white light at the front and a couple flashing lights either side and it was coming down," he told host Nicky Campbell during the breakfast programme.

Within minutes, the radio was inundated with calls from listeners, asking questioned, or giving their own version of the encounter with what many said clearly was a UFO.

At first the reporter said he assumed an airfield was nearby but the mysterious object then banked to the south in the Wood End and Ardeley direction.

"I then got a good look on it. It wasn't a helicopter, I'm not sure what it was, but it was disc-shaped [with] at least two panelled lights - soft white lights - underneath and several flashing lights around it.

"It can't have been a plane because it didn't continue its journey. I wouldn't say it hovered but it stayed in a certain area." Sewell added.

The journalist said he watched the potential UFO for two or three minutes before losing track of the object. He however added he saw a higher bright light in the sky with a bright white light.

The journalist also appealed to the driver of a Volkswagen whom was travelling along the road in front of him and who Sewell insisted "must have seen it."

A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire police said they had only received one call on the subject from a member of the public regarding the sighting.

"This is not a regular occurrence but we always encourage anybody to report anything suspect - strange people, strange aircraft and the like on our non-emergency number 101" the spokeswoman added.