The lights were spotted by residents in Gorton, Denton, Droylsden and Stockport, according to the Manchester Evening News, which noted that many of the lights were seen at roughly 8:30 p.m. local time.
Though it's not clear exactly what caused the luminescent display, netizens have thoughts on the matter. Some suggested that the lights were the result of a nighttime shooting by a film crew — or your run-of-the-mill UFO sighting.
Since-deleted dashcam video uploaded on YouTube — which was later shared by website UFO Reporters — showed a "single strange light in the sky" appear before it was joined by two additional white lights. It's unclear why the content was removed from the the video-sharing site.
This incident, however, isn't the first instance of curious lights appearing in UK skies.
Earlier this year in August, a strange "pulsating" purple glow was spotted in the Manchester area by locals. It ultimately turned out to be caused by a tamping machine UK authorities were using while conducting maintenance railwork in the Stalybridge area, the Manchester Evening News reported.