Melbourne, June 27: After Britain, Australia is now in the grip of an ‘alien invasion’ fear after a reported UFO sighting over the Northern Territory.

Residents of the small Territory outback community claim they have seen three spaceships hovering just metres above their houses.

A number of people at Marlinja, population 112 and 730km south of Darwin, described the incident.

Janie Dixon, resident of the community, said that it started as an ‘ordinary’ night.

"The kids were on the basketball courts, shooting a few hoops, and I was indoors talking to my two nieces when we heard a strange, loud noise," News. com. au quoted resident Janie Dixon, as saying.

"We ran outside but at first we couldn't see anything -- it was really dark and we could hear the sound. The sound was horrible. It sounded like something was going past. We thought it was a jet. I saw what I thought at first was the evening star, the first star you usually see at night.

"But then we saw three red lights in the distance, and the sound kept getting louder. The ground felt like it was shaking, so we ran inside and shut the doors. My nephew and niece were looking out through curtains. The thing came closer, circled around the basketball courts and then came so close above our house.

"The kids at the basketball courts ran -- two girls stood there looking towards the sky. They tried to see what it was but all they could see was this bright red light in the pitch black. Then the light in the house became so bright, it was like we were sitting in a football stadium. After a while, after the things all disappeared... I think it was about 11pm by then.

"We went outside and were just sitting around drinking tea and talking about it all. The kids were put to bed. We heard the noise again and it came back, but disappeared again moments later. We were all really frightened. It was a big shock and I couldn't sleep," she added.

In Britain, a series of UFO sightings were reported earlier this month by a helicopter crew and military personnel. (ANI)