IS IT a bird, is it a plane - or is it in fact a UFO over the skies of Melrose?

An eagle eyed photographer, who we agreed not to name, spotted the strange shape high above the Waverly Hotel on Monday afternoon about 3pm.

And despite contacting both the Met Office and the Ministry of Defence (MOD), neither could confirm any military exercises or weather balloons operating in the area.

Describing the strange phenomenon, the camerman said: "At first the photo doesn't really look like much, but what makes it curious, is when I zoomed in on it, it seems to be moving pretty fast at around 45 degrees towards the sky - as you can see by the close up it appears to have a tail showing the direction.

"The first thing I thought of was lens flare, but I was at the side of a large building in the shade, with the sun out of sight at the front of the building. There was certainly no flare in the lens. I thought perhaps it was a weather balloon or maybe even some sort of military exercise going on in the area." But when the Border Telegraph contacted the Met Office, a spokesperson said: "We can't confirm if it was a weather balloon the man saw, as we don't have any record of there being a balloon in the area at that time.

"Also the nearest weather station that releases balloons is near Newcastle, so it seems unlikely. We can't rule out the possibility it was a balloon, but from the description given and the place it was seen I think it's unlikely." And a spokesperson for the MOD declined to comment on the sighting.

But the cameraman in question remains unconvinced as to what it was he actually saw. He added: "It was probably nothing, but I still don't understand what could explain something like that in the sky."