Dozens of baffled Scots reported seeing ‘ UFO shaped clouds ’ across the skyline on Saturday night.
The orb-shaped clouds were spotted across the country, including the capital city, where bemused locals shared images of the phenomena on social media.
But the Met Office has offered an explanation about the unusual sightings which are actually lenticular clouds, Edinburgh Live reports.
The forecaster said that such lens-shaped clouds form when the air is stable and winds blow across hills and mountains from the same or similar direction at different heights.
Pilots on aeroplanes avoid them due to turbulence.
Larger formations of the clouds were pictured over northern Scotland and the borders earlier this year.
A Met Office spokesperson explained: "These strange, unnatural looking clouds sometimes form downwind of hills or mountains.
"They are quite unusual in the British Isles but do occasionally occur.
“They look a lot like the traditional shape of flying saucers in science fiction, and real lenticular clouds are believed to be one of the most common explanations for UFO sightings across the world.
"When air blows across a mountain range, in certain circumstances, it can set up a train of large standing waves in the air downstream, rather like ripples forming in a river when water flows over an obstruction.
"If there is enough moisture in the air, the rising motion of the wave will cause water vapour to condense, forming the unique appearance of lenticular clouds.
"Lenticular clouds are a visible sign of mountain waves in the air. However, these waves can be present beyond the clouds, and may exist even when no clouds are formed.
"On the ground, they can result in very strong gusty winds in one place, with still air only a few hundred metres away.
"Pilots of powered aircraft tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence that accompany them.
"Skilled (and brave) glider pilots, on the other hand, like them, because they can tell from the shape of the clouds where the air will be rising."
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