[bbfan1991]

A man dialled 999 earlier this month to report a UFO in Canterbury before calling back to admit that it was in fact the moon.

The Hertfordshire police posted the audio of both phonecalls on YouTube yesterday via its official channel.

Youtube video

The caller reported that there was "an enormous light blazing" and hovering over his house.

An officer logged the incident before the man called for a second time two minutes later.

"I made a mistake," he admitted. "I thought I saw something really strange, but I didn't. You won't believe this, you won't believe it. It's the moon."

The police explained that they had made the contents of the call public to "serve as a timely reminder before Halloween that making a bogus call can stop important 999 calls from getting through".

"Worse still, it can divert valuable police resources away from handling genuine emergencies," the constabulary added.