IT was like a scene from the latest Hollywood science fiction film – a mysterious and unidentifiable object seen flashing and darting across the Hampshire night sky.

As Deano Price, 30, lit a cigarette in the back garden of his dad’s Lyndhurst home, something strange and alien caught his eye.

When he looked up to see what it was he was shocked to find a bright white light zipping across the horizon.

It comes as the latest comedy sci-fi adventure film Paul has filled cinemas across the south. The hit film follows two sci-fi geeks Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on a pilgrimage to America’s UFO heartland where they accidentally meet funny alien Paul.

“I knew straight away it wasn’t normal,” said dad of one Deano.

“I dropped my cigarette and ran inside to phone my brother in Totton to see if he could see it too.

“When he said he could I ran back outside to see if it was still there.”

As soon as Deano first spotted the UFO he managed to capture its high-speed movements on his mobile phone.

The grainy footage shows a small white dot moving quickly across the frame before disappearing and then reappearing again.

“It started off as a white light but then turned red for a couple of minutes before going back to white again,” said Deano.

“It was moving backwards and forwards but not really up and down. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Deano posted the video on the Internet where other people claimed to have seen the mysterious object as far away as Hythe and Salisbury.

One woman said: “I saw it too when I was driving home through the forest. Lots of cars were parked up and people were watching it.

“It was flashing white and red, hovering then darting up and down and left and right.”

Another man said: “It was over in Salisbury too. It was white and was buzzing all over the place. It’s definitely not a comet or a drone.”

A spokesperson from Southampton airport said: “It was business as usual at the airport that night so we can’t shed any light on the sightings.”

But Deano is adamant it was not a plane.

“It definitely wasn’t a plane. I do believe in aliens — we can’t be the only thing out there. The New Forest is known as a bit of a hotspot for things like this but it’s definitely the weirdest thing I have ever seen,” he said.