Dozens of residents claimed to have seen bright flashing spheres is the skies near Louth, Lincolnshire, where a 290ft turbine was mangled in a mystery collision.

One woman said she saw the an object fly towards the wind farm, while others described the lights as being linked by "tentacles", leading locals to dub it the octopus UFO.

Dorothy Willows, who lives a mile and a half from the crash site, said: "The lights were moving across the sky towards the wind farm. Then I saw a low flying object. It was skimming across the sky towards the turbines."

Later on Sunday night, one of a turbine's 65ft blades was ripped off and another severely damaged.

The Health and Safety Executive described the damage as a "unique incident", and the energy firm Ecotricity which owns the 20-turbine site say it has no explanation.

"We are struggling to find an answer, yes, and it has been quite interesting to read the reports in the press about what people have seen," Dale Vince from the company told BBC Radio Four's Today programme..

"It sounds unbelievable but actually we don't have any explanation at the moment.

"Give us a few days and if there is a rational explanation we will find it."

Robert Palmer, chairman of East Lindsey District Council, was among the dozens of people who reported seeing strange lights in the sky in the evening before the incident. Another witness, John Harrison, described looking at the farm out of his window and seeing "a massive ball of light with tentacles going right down to the ground".

UFO enthusiasts have described the incident as potentially one of the most significant encounters in years, and have called for the damaged parts to be tested to uncover the cause of the collision.

A more down-to-earth theory is that the turbine was damaged due to the build up of ice on the blades.

The Ministry of Defence said that it did not investigae UFO sightings unless there was evidence of a potential threat to the UK.

by:telegraph