Reported flares may have been meteors

A MAJOR search was launched last week amid reports of “red flares” burning out at sea.

But despite searching a the coastline off Holyhead for an hour and a half on Tuesday evening, emergency crews were eventually stood down after failing to spot anything unusual in the water.

Rescuers now believe that the sighting could have in fact been something more cosmic after crew members reported seeing meteors in the sky during the search.

Holyhead lifeboat member Ray Steadman said: “Last night was an unusual night because, apart from the red flares, people reported sighting meteors in the sky.

“One of the crew members said it was such a clear night that he could see planes landing in Ireland.”

The sea search began at 7pm on Tuesday with two crews from the Holyhead RNLI and a search and rescue helicopter from RAF Valley on Anglesey called into action.

Two coastguard teams, one from Holyhead and one from Cemaes Bay, also took part in the operation.

Mr Steadman added: “The search began about two miles off the end of the breakwater towards The Skerries.

“The weather at sea was calm luckily. I’m just thankful we had good weather because if it had been Wednesday, it would have been horrendous.”