A UFO-spotter has photographed this strange grey shape hovering in the skies above Bridgnorth following a hand-glider.

Col Foster, who never goes anywhere without his camera after taking up an interest in UFOs three years ago, spotted what he describes as a “grey and partially transparent sphere” at Hampton Loade near Bridgnorth.

Mr Foster, from Wordsley, near Stourbridge, joins the scores of people who have seen other-worldly shapes over county skies this year.

Mystery surrounds the flying objects – some glow, some hover and others have strange shapes.

Answers put forward by UFO experts and readers are that they are simply birds, an optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions, a night-time alien invasion and most recently, that they are chinese lanterns.

Mr Foster, 34, said he was very sceptical when he started his interest in the unidentifiable flying objects, but now he is more sure they can not be explained away.

He said: “I took these pictures two weekends ago at about noon by the Unicorn Inn at Hampton Loade.

“The spherical shape was following a hang glider and it was grey and appeared to be becoming invisible.

“I have researched UFOs and its called the cloak effect as the UFO tries to make itself invisible.

“I take my camera everywhere and often take pictures of the sky.

“I would say that out of 100 photos, two or three will have something unexplainable in them.”

Mr Foster, a member of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) also submits his photos to the UFO casebook.

“Even experts can try and explain it away as a bird, but the more open-minded believers say yes there is something unidentifiable there,” he said.

“I don’t think they are chinese lanterns because they don’t go where the wind takes them. They behave more erratically, moving forward and back and going invisible and visible.”

By Catherine Roche