Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well, actually...

Strange noises and unidentified flying objects were seen and heard over Norwich last night.

Social networking sites were immediately alive with speculation over the cause of the noise, which was heard intermittently between 9pm and 10pm, with many commenters offering an extraterrestrial explanation.

However, the cause of the eerie lights and sudden noises may have been from a little closer to home: jets flying exercises from RAF Lakenheath.

Old Catton resident Steven Granados contacted the Norwich Evening News to say he was first alerted by jets which 'sounded like they had gone supersonic'.

He said: 'I looked out of my window and saw four orange balls flying in a line across the sky. These 'UFOs' did not look like planes and had no flashing lights – at the same time as seeing these orange balls I could hear the jets flying over the city but the sound of the jets was not coming from the direction of the balls.

'One by one the orange balls disappeared, I then saw three fighter jets circle in the sky and fly in the direction from where the orange balls came from.'

Mr Granados asked if others had seen the same thing, adding: 'I don't believe that jets would be on an exercise over Norwich and allowed to go supersonic. They appeared to be chasing the 'UFOs'.'

Did you hear the noises over Norwich last night? Leave your comments below or email your stories and pictures mark.shields@archant.co.uk