Some people were left confused and others excited as lights appeared from nowhere on Xmas night.

Sightings of a “UFO” were reported in New Plymouth and Wellington, although a witness from Waikanae believes there is an earthly explanation.

Jennie Velvin, of New Plymouth, said everyone would think she had had one too many wines when she saw a UFO.

But she was positive she had not touched the booze and that even her husband, John – normally a sceptic – could confirm there had been something strange in the sky above Ngamotu Rd, New Plymouth.

Velvin takes her dogs out the back of the house for toileting at 10pm every evening and is familiar with the night sky.

“I always look up to the sky to see what’s there. Sometimes I see a satellite, like a slow-moving star, and we get a lot of helicopters.”

But she said what she saw on this night was not normal.

Craig Henrksen saw it from his home near Wellington airport.

”I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol either,” he wrote. ”At 0145 on 26th Dec I saw one of these ‘lights’. I thought it was a reflection of street lamps on my window but realised it was moving. I opened the door and watched this orange ball of flame move at a constant speed heading south almost as high as a plane would fly until roughly 40 secs later it was too small and far away to see. Im pretty sure it wasn’t Santa.”

The video below was posted on YouTube, showing strange lights over Paekakariki on the Kapiti Coast.