MEMBERS of the public have spotted strange shooting lights flying through the sky above Bradford this evening.

The spectacle has had people baffled, with some commenters on Facebook sarcastically suggesting "extraterrestrials" are behind it all.

But, it seems the beams of coloured light have a more innocent backstory.

A woman, who saw the lights flashing across the sky, filmed what was going on and shared her discovery on a Facebook community page at around 8.48pm on Wednesday evening.

People responded in their droves to the post, revealing they had seen the beams from other parts of Bradford, and further afield, as well, including Baildon, Wrose and Harrogate.

Chris Coop also grabbed footage of the fast flashing beams (below) on Harrogate Road, in Eccleshill.

The video shows a line of light moving horizontally across the sky, before it shoots forward towards where the camera is and then disappears in an instant.

One commenter thought the world was ending when they spotted the lights.

But, a number of other people reassured those worrying about an apocalypse or the real-life version of War of the Worlds.

It is believed the flashes in the sky actually came from lasers which are being tested for a light show in Leeds tomorrow evening.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed this was the case.

Read more about that here...

The "Laser Light City" event begins in Bradford's neighbouring city tomorrow, at 6pm, and will be hitting the skyline that evening, as well as on the two following nights.

Some commenters on Facebook revealed you could visit a website and control the lasers yourself for a short time, during the testing period.

One woman said she was stood in her garden controlling one of the lasers and could see her handiwork when she looked over towards Ravenscliffe Woods.

Another commenter was particularly relieved to find out there was nothing sincere about the lights.

When he first saw the beams, he presumed they were fireworks, but got suspicious when he heard no "bang".

The man saw the lights a further two times and decided to just carry on with his life.

He thanked those who had revealed the mystery for allowing him to "live in peace now".