MYSTERIOUS lights are being reported across York's night sky.

The beams have been sighted reflecting off clouds and criss-crossing like lasers.

The truth is out there, but it's slightly mundane...witnesses of the strange happenings are not watching extraterrestrial activity, nor are the Northern Lights paying the city an early winter visit.

The new addition to York's skyscape is the latest stunt from the major new shopping complex at Monks Cross. The management of the development has installed strong floodlights which send beams high into the sky as part of its seasonal festivities. The lights were fitted a week ago, and will continue to beam the centre's location in the sky throughout the Christmas period.

A Monks Cross spokesman said: "The purpose is to lend a little bit of seasonal festivity, but it's also to announce that here we are to everybody going past. In certain weather conditions, like when it's raining or cloudy, the effect is really spectacular, though on a clear night they are hardly noticed."

In fact, it is so spectacular that reports of the strange vision have been coming in from as far away as Stamford Bridge.

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