!-Comment-!  We don't usually cover UFO sightings but this recent case is somewhat different as it featured a full on partial contact by both a UFO and its occupant. Although the British MoD mysteriously claimed to have closed its UFO Desk it seems a sure thing that sightings and encounters will continue to exponentially increase in the coming few years. EXMOUTH man Roy Shaw has exclusively spoken about the moment he came face-to-face with what UFO experts are calling a Close Encounter of the Third Kind, writes Becca Gliddon. UFO sceptic Mr Shaw, of Withycombe Village Road, is the latest resident to report seeing strange coloured lights - and says he spotted what he can only describe as a spaceship landing in Phear Park.

The retired engineer and his dog ran for home when a white 'shimmering' shape began walking towards them.

ROY Shaw does not believe in aliens, ghosts, flying saucers or anything he cannot physically touch or explain.

But recently Mr Shaw, a retired engineer, saw something unusual in Phear Park that frightened him so much, it caused him to run home so fast he twisted his ankle in the process, writes Becca Gliddon.

Mr Shaw believes he saw a UFO land in Phear Park and witnessed a 'white shape' come towards him.

The Withycombe Raleigh resident calls the experience 'weird' and is at a loss to explain what he saw.

An Exmouth UFO boffin believes Mr Shaw had a brush with alien life, and calls the 'rare' event a Close Encounter of the Third Kind.

Mr Shaw is worried people will think he is a crank after reading his account of the strange occurrence.

But he is keen to point out that, far from believing in little green men, he remains a sceptic and still cannot give an explanation of what he saw that night.

Mr Shaw said: "The object was round in shape and about 30-feet in diameter and 100-foot long, with blue and red flashing lights on its perimeter, and it appeared to land at the top end of the park by the bowling green.

"My dog started to growl when, what I can only describe as a white shape, came towards us.

"It was about four-feet high and seemed to be translucent, and moved very slowly towards us.

"I was transfixed because it made a droning noise which sounded like 'my my,' over and over again, which I could not understand.

"I didn't know where the sound was coming from but it was coming straight towards me.

"I immediately ran back down through the park."

Mr Shaw said the UFO appeared to hover over the hedge of the bowling green, then flew horizontally from left to right, before immediately shooting off at high speed, back to the left at a 45-degree angle.

He said the UFO appeared from nowhere. He did not see it fly overhead, or land.

Mr Shaw said his normally-placid border collie dog, Sydney, ran away from the object after baring his teeth at the approaching figure.

"I twisted my ankle when I ran like hell," said Mr Shaw. "My dog Syd kept whimpering and kept looking out of the bedroom window towards the park until at least two in the morning.

"I had problems sleeping because I just kept going over in my mind what I had seen.

"I still can't believe what I saw and I am still in a state of shock.

"Syd doesn't like going back up there now. Something put him off.

"Everybody thinks you are crank when you report something like this.

"I am an engineer. I like to touch and feel things. If I can touch it, it exists, but there's no way I can explain this."

Exmouth UFO expert Nigel Wright said: "This is a close encounter of the third kind.

"The definition of a third kind is having encountered an occupant of a UFO in close proximity to the craft itself.

"This is a really important sighting."