The truth may well be out there, but it’s not in the skies above Co Meath. Amateur Mulder and Scullys who thought they’d found “proof” of UFOs in the night sky on August 3 can close their X-Files, as there is an earthly explanation for the ethereal objects they filmed.

A video of mysterious illuminated objects floating over Dunboyne was described as “the best UFO footage ever filmed in Ireland and some of the best ever worldwide” by enthusiastic pursuers of alien craft.

The sightings made front-page news, interesting “UFOlogists” globally, according to Carl Nally, co-founder of Paranormal Research Ireland and joint author of Conspiracy of Silence: UFOs in Ireland.

But newlyweds Andrea and Lynden James have a far more prosaic explanation. “At our wedding reception in Dunboyne Castle hotel on August 3, we released about 25 Chinese lanterns to celebrate our vows,” Andrea said. “We’ve seen the images and there’s no doubt about it: they’re our lanterns.”

Andrea, a lawyer, said the lanterns, made from woven rice paper with a candle inside, are an ancient Chinese custom.

“You make a wish before sending them up and they bring good luck. We had about 60 but because it was so gusty, we only sent up about 25. They were moving quite quickly so they may have looked strange.”

The 30in lanterns fly like hot-air balloons, reaching heights of 3,000ft.

Andrea said she and her husband, a detective, had alerted the Irish Aviation Authority before releasing the lanterns. “We had written permission, so if anyone had checked, they would have known what we did,” she said.

The footage of UFOs over Dunboyne was filmed on a camera phone at 10.35pm, soon after the couple released their lanterns. It was captured by a garda from Portlaoise who reportedly leapt from his car to film the triangular objects. It was replayed several times to 70 delegates at a UFO conference in Carrick-on-Shannon last month, and again at a convention on the paranormal in Clontarf Castle yesterday.

Nally, though, remains convinced of the veracity of the footage: “I am very familiar with Chinese lanterns. It’s just a coincidence that there were some released on that night. The footage we have is the real deal and shows a red beam shooting down to the ground — that couldn’t be just a lantern.”

Nally said the footage of the “beam” would not be shown on YouTube or on TV. “We’re only showing it at conferences to audiences genuinely interested in finding out the truth.”

Despite his claims, the Jones’s are convinced the original footage already made public is of their sky lanterns. The couple, who live in Manchester, are tickled by the international interest in their wedding. “It’s great fun. Sky News ran a piece and there has been interest from all over the world. We’ve bought up back copies of a local paper with a headline ‘Incredible alien activity’,” James said.

Ross Hemsworth, presenter of the TV show Now that’s Weird, even speculated the sightings might be linked to the building of the M3 close to the Hill of Tara. “There have been a lot of sightings in Ireland in strange places and the proximity to the digging of the motorway may have opened things up,” he said.

Chinese lanterns, which can float for several miles, are regularly mistaken for UFOs. Released in quick succession, they appear to fly in formation.

Last month, radio stations and the police received reports of strange activity in the sky after two girls released lanterns at a birthday party in Wiltshire, southwest England. A wedding party that released 60 sky lanterns caused a commotion in Nottingham in August.

Another recent UFO sighting over Dublin turned out to be the International Space Station, which orbits 210 miles above the planet. The planet Venus is often so bright that it too is regularly mistaken for a UFO.

A dossier on 37 years of UFO “sightings” was released by the Irish Defence Forces last year under the Freedom of Information act, but it has failed to yield real evidence of alien activity over Ireland.

It included an incident in 1984 when a brown object “the same shape as a fried egg with some kind of an aerial on top” was spotted near Cashel, Co Tipperary. The object, which “buzzed like a chainsaw”, was seen by a 10-year-old boy, who said at the time that he was “dazzled by the bright lights”.

A “flying projectile” shaped like “a household iron” was seen over a bog in Donegal the same year. An off-duty garda and a farmer were cutting turf near Falcarragh when they heard “a gushing sound”. The garda looked up and saw a grey object with fins travelling at speed over his head. The Phoenix magazine speculated that it had been a guided missile.

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