More than a dozen witnesses were left stunned after they spotted up to nine "fireballs" near Easington Lane.

Mum Sharon Johnston said she was at a friend's house in the area when she noticed them.

The 33-year-old, from Hetton, said the orange lights were in the air for about 10 minutes before suddenly vanishing from sight.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Sharon. "We were sat at a friend's house out in the garden at the time because it was a really nice night. I was leaning back to look up and noticed these dots in the sky.

"At first it looked as if something had blown up, but then I noticed that they were leaving a trail behind as they moved. It was hard to tell how high they were because it was such a clear night, but they seemed quite low.

"They weren't that far off and they were over us for a good few minutes. In fact, you couldn't miss them."

Householders rushed into the streets to witness the lights, which were reportedly travelling in formation.

However, Sharon, laughed off suggestions of paranormal activity or aliens.

"We were all making jokes about it at the time, saying it's aliens and we should be calling NASA or something," said the mum-of-two.

"But there must be some rational explanation. It couldn't have been an aeroplane because we would have heard something at that height.

"But it has certainly got people baffled. I've lived in the area all my life and I've never seen anything like it before.

"They were above the house for quite some time, travelling across the sky, and there seemed to be a series of them."