A UFO shaped like the MILLENNIUM FALCON could actually be from a galaxy far, far away, experts say.
They launched an investigation after Christine Iskander spotted the bright object and took a snap on her iPhone.
The 63-year-old was walking her dog at the time and was baffled by what she saw.
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Boffins have spent six years probing the sighting in the village of Brandon, northeast of Bishop Auckland, Co Durham.
She said: “I was alone at the time with my dogs.
“I looked up and saw this brilliant light heading in my direction.
“I thought it was a helicopter and there was no sound at all.
“I just thought it was unusual, so I got my iPhone 5 out and just managed to snap one photo before it shot up into the sky and disappeared.
“It looked like a very brilliant white star to the naked eye.
“Seconds after taking the photo the object shot straight up and then disappeared before I could get another photo.”
To her amazement when she enlarged the picture, the object appeared to resemble Han Solo’s famous starship.
She sent the snap to Philip Mantle, a former director of investigations for the British UFO Research Association, who drafted in top experts to probe the sighting.
And he was stunned after they concluded it was a genuine UFO that she spotted in December 2017.
He receives reports of strange sightings from around the country after the Ministry of Defence closed its official UFO desk in 2009 due to budget cuts.
Philip, of Pontefract, West Yorks, said: “Although on the surface this photo doesn’t look like much when it has been enlarged it almost looks like the Millennium Falcon spaceship from Star Wars.
“Add to this the witness’ description you have to label this as a genuine UFO.”
Jason Gleaves, an ex-RAF and BAE Airbus division employee, who studied the photo in depth, said: “The witnesses said she was out alone walking her dog, the weather conditions had been fairly clear, and the sky had no other stars in view and no moon visible.
“The object appeared similar to a very brilliant white star to the naked eye and appeared travelling towards her.
“At first, she thought it might have been a helicopter but couldn’t hear any distinguishing familiar sounds.
“Seconds after taking the original photograph the object shot straight up and then disappeared before she could get a second photograph.
“Upon analysing the original image, it appears to have a defined structure.
“No known conventional aircraft can accelerate vertically from a standing hovering position without sound.”
Former US Navy optical physicist Dr Bruce Maccabee, who also looked at the picture, said:
“If there was no noise, then it’s probably not an aircraft with a headlight and an aircraft wouldn’t zip upward.
“The shape of the image is probably a reasonable portrayal of the actual shape.
“With no further info all I can say is it appears to be an unidentified object of some sort.”
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