“COME to a skywatch run by UFO investigators.”

Some invitations seem carefully crafted to instil dismay into the heart of the listener, and this is one of them.

I’ve been to such events before, in other places where I’ve worked, and met some very strange people indeed.

There was the man who believed he was channelling the late lead singer of glam rock band The Sweet, for example. And the man who believed the royal family were aliens.

Luckily for the sake of my sanity and for the sake of proper UFO research, there is a Swindon group that shuns such nonsense.

That’s how I ended up standing at the top of Foxhill near Liddington late on Saturday evening.

At SUFOR, the Swindon UFO Research Organisation, a flying object has to work hard before the members will even classify it as unidentified.

First, all avenues of investigation are explored, ranging from consulting star charts (because celestial bodies are sometimes mistaken for aircraft) to finding out whether the police helicopter was aloft at a given time and location.

Founder Chris Williams is a level-headed 41-year-old Old Town dad-of -three and building society worker. The group has so far held two skywatches and several regular meetings. Chris is also a major contributor to the Adver-backed Weird Wiltshire website (www.weirdwiltshire.co. uk).

“We began late last year and so far have about 18 members, which is fantastic,” said Chris. “Non-members are welcome to come along to our events, and many do.”

Chris has been interested in unusual phenomena since childhood. He decided to found the group because there were no active and credible UFO study organisations.

Like most of his members, he believes that all but a handful of UFO sightings can be explained as conventional phenomena such as aircraft or even car lights, celestial bodies and atmospheric anomalies.

That remaining handful, though, are a mystery.

When I took part in the latest skywatch, which was attended by about a dozen people, some of those present were willing to consider the possibility of extraterrestrial craft or covert testing of new secret aircraft.

Members are drawn from all walks of life, but all share a keen curiosity about UFOs and an equally keen desire to find concrete answers. Allowed refreshments no more stimulating than coffee, tea, soft drinks and sandwiches, we made our way up the hill shortly before 10pm for a stay of two hours.

The night-time view of Swindon and the surrounding countryside was exquisite.

And the UFOs? Chris spotted a light over Old Town during the evening, but believed it to be the police helicopter or air ambulance.

The group will now seek confirmation.