They describe the objects as moving slowly and silently through the night sky and heading in the direction of Parr.

One of the men, who has asked not to be named, said: "It was definitely not a weather balloon or anything like that, it was unlike anything I have ever seen before.

"The four discs were bright, but not like a shining light, like a reflective surface."

The man was amazed when he spoke to a taxi driver friend later that week and discovered he'd also seen a similar UFO over Parr later that same evening.

"To have three people see exactly the same thing, and at almost the same time makes it all the more fascinating. We were all baffled by it."

The pair had been enjoying a night at the Sutton Cricket Club and were preparing to leave when they spotted the object.

"We were about to get into my car when we were both stopped in our tracks by the sight of this thing. This thing was just hovering in the night sky. It was so unexpected."

The incident is similar to one earlier this year when several residents in the Wymbrel Avenue area of Newton-le-Willows spotted a strange object in the night sky.

Stuart Welsby had been returning from a shopping trip with wife Emma and their young son when he spotted a 'glowing orange blob' floating across the Newton skyline. Amazingly, he spotted the same strange glowing light at around the same time the following night.

Mr Welsby, a 31-year-old mobile paint sprayer, said at the time: "We just saw this thing in the sky and both said 'what an earth is that'.

"It was right above us but was moving at the normal speed of an airplane but it had no aviation lights and when I turned my engine off there was absolutely no noise coming from it.

"I would describe it as like a bright orange glow. You could tell by the way it was moving that it wasn't a shooting star or a meteor.

"I stopped the car and got out to take a better look and there were a few other people milling about who'd also noticed it. It was very odd.

"I took a picture on my mobile phone but we were only about a minute from our house so we dashed home to get my digital camera.

"When we got back it was still there but by the time I had got the digital camera out it had disappeared, which was also very strange because it was a clear night with not much cloud."

Have you Spotted anything strange in the skies over St Helens? We want to hear from you. Contact our newsdesk by calling 01744 611011 or emailing sthelens.reporter@lancspublications.co.uk or you can leave your comments below ...