TODAY is worldwide UFO day, and to mark the occasion we look back at previous sightings in the county.
Top-secret records detailing almost a decade of UFO sightings in Dorset were made public by the Ministry of Defence.
The X-Files, published in response to a Freedom of Information request, show the MoD logged 21 reports of unidentified flying objects in the county between 1998 and 2006.
Those reports can be seen in the video above.
Sightings in the county aren't a new thing, but only since the advent of camera phones has it become easy for spotters to get a quick snap.
The following are accounts of sightings, details and photographic 'evidence.'
Each of them could be a case for Mulder and Scully!
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2007
A video was sent in by Echo reader Tina Pope and it quickly became an online sensation as viewers could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Sadly, or maybe thankfully, the lights were a prank organised by students at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth with Chinese lanterns.
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2009
Southbourne man Chris captured a video of what he thought could have been of a UFO.
Mysterious lights are often seen over the town, but they usually turn out to be Chinese Lanterns or the SBS on late-night training.
2010
Reader Joe Weil saw it in the skies above Parley Manor. He says: "This object was in the sky for more than four hours.
"Although it moved up and down the object never changed position in every photo so it could not have been a balloon or any other object flying on a cord.
"I phoned Hurn airport, the general manager got the tower to have a look and they could see nothing on radar."
But Joe later discovered after a friend investigated further that it was in fact a crow-scaring device used by farmers.
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2014
This mysterious light was captured by a Daily Echo reader.
There was lightning on the horizon at the time, but the reader said he did not think it was a Chinese Lantern - it could have been a lightning ball.
Occasionally, when conditions are right, a small and seemingly spherical piece of the atmosphere will briefly catch fire.
Some lightning balls or fireballs appear to be the products of living organisms.
The decay of organic matter leads to the release of gasses that can spontaneously catch fire after encountering oxygen in the atmosphere. This produces a flickering light, sometimes in the shape of a ball, which is suspended in mid-air.
Lightning balls typically only last for a few seconds, making it difficult to develop a conclusive theory explaining how it works.
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2020
Several slow-moving, mysterious bright lights were spotted travelling across Dorset towards the New Forest on March 29.
Around 80 moving lights appeared to be travelling in a straight line.
The lights were first seen at 8:46pm in Poole by couple Brian and Heather Camfield.
Brian explained: "The lights were travelling at a slow pace and we saw about 19 of them before we went inside. We thought it might have been a string of satellites. We are totally mystified."
The pair also considered the light being a repatriation plane, but dismissed that idea once more lights appeared.
Heather said: "It was really, really spooky."
"We thought, 'This is it, the UFOs are coming now,'" added Brian.
The lights were witnessed travelling above Christchurch a few minutes later.
Stacey Sprason and her family saw the slow-moving lights at around 9pm.
She said: "I love the stars - I'm always looking up. This was when I saw the lights. There was about 80 of them in total and they just kept coming.
"At first I thought they were police drones, but there were way too many of them. The lights were about plane height, bright and low. It was really weird how all the lights were in one dead straight line."
The lights were later believed to be Starlink satellites.
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2021
Owner of Naked Coffee Ian Saul saw an object floating in the sky above Durley Chine Beach.
It was spotted at 8.29pm on March 29 whilst Ian was at the beach with his partner, daughter and her friends.
He said: "I was sat down watching my daughter and friends play when I saw this crazy thing in the sky. I looked up and there it was in front of me. It was moving quite fast and at first I thought it was a shooting star as it was too high to be a drone and too close to be a plane.
"I don't believe in UFOs and I never have in all my life, but I can't explain what it was, especially when I see in my video how quickly it was flying.
"After watching it for a bit, whatever it was just disappeared. It went as quickly as it came. I have never seen anything like this in my life and I couldn't say what it was.
"When I watch the video back, it almost looks like a round ball flying in a circle whilst moving through the sky."
A possible explanation for this strange sighting could be that it was a lightning ball.
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