A SEQUENCE of strange, unexplained lights on Dartmoor last week mystified a driver so much he has been moved to try and fid out their origin.

Ian Haskins of Weston-super-Mare was driving home along the A30 last Wednesday, October 6, at about 8.30pm, when he saw the mysterious light show in the sky above the moor near Okehampton.

Ian said: 'These orange lights were going off in groups of three. They were just hovering.

'I am an engineer and have worked with aircraft for many years, and what I was seeing just didn't make sense.

'At first I thought they were going off from Okehampton Camp, but then I realised they were well up on the moor and seemed to be happening in multiple groups of three, all the same distance apart.

'I am not some sort of UFO nut, but I can't make sense of them, and I'd just like to know why they were going up in these groups.'

Lt Col Tony Clark, commandant in charge of the Dartmoor Training Area, said: 'When we are firing at night, for safety reasons, we need to identify targets from exercising troops. We do this particularly with new recruits, to build up their confidence.

'We use Schermuly parachute flares, and they emit an eerie, yellow light, which is what Mr Haskins must have seen — they were possibly in groups of three because there were three firers.'

Col Clark said he was glad to solve the mystery and could happily confirm that no UFOs had been spotted in the area on the night in question.