A SERIES of UFO sightings in Inverclyde were probed by a specialist department at the Ministry of Defence.

Information previously kept top secret through a government 'X-Files'-style project reveals senior figures at the military probed five separate incidents in the area between 1999 and late 2009.

The data, made available to the Telegraph through the Freedom of Information Act, tells how unidentified flying objects were recorded in the skies above Inverclyde by a special Air Command department of the Armed Forces.

One entry in the MOD files details a sighting in Greenock at 9.25pm on 1 May 1999. This described how a local man saw five lights going into a centre and breaking away to form a circle in the night sky. They continued to circle before vanishing.

On 22 February that year another report was made of two bright stationary lights hovering over Inverclyde. The lights were described as sitting low on the horizon, where they remained in the sky for 30 minutes before shooting off.

While the majority of the sightings were made over Greenock, the files reveal a UFO was also seen on 25 May 2003 above Kilmacolm.

This entry describes how a woman saw a large bright light hovering in the sky just after 11pm. The light stayed in the sky for a short time before disappearing.

The Ministry also recorded a sighting above Greenock on 15 February 2005. A man reported a large yellow conical craft in the sky while walking his dog just after 1am.

On 25 December 2009, two orange lights were seen hovering over Greenock just after 5.30pm. As well as being recorded as an official sighting by MOD experts, the lights were caught on a mobile phone by a couple, with the story making headlines in the Tele that week.

Debbie and Hugh Scobie, from Berwick Road, captured footage of the two objects in the sky above Larkfield. This was the second UFO sighting in Inverclyde in a matter of weeks after a floating disc was recorded appearing to float over Coronation Park on Friday 13 November.

The information was released as the Ministry of Defence closed down their department dedicated to investigating unexplained sightings in British air space.

A spokesperson for the MOD said: "The MOD has no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life. However, in over 50 years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom.

"The ongoing programme to release departmental files on UFO matters to the National Archive will continue."