Is this the moment a UFO was spotted in the skies over Sheffield city centre?

The clip, uploaded to video sharing website YouTube, shows a mysterious ball of white light rising slowly through the skies above the city just a couple days after Christmas.

The footage, which was filmed early in the morning of December 27, was shot by the University of Sheffield and shows the flickering, white globe slowly getting bigger as it rises through the atmosphere.

The video, entitled “UFO in Sheffield” begins with a caption which reads: “Real time recording of strange light in Sheffield sky.”

The footage was shot at 7.18am from a fixed webcam which is used to monitor peregrines in their nestbox on top of the University’s St George’s Church lecture theatre in St George’s Terrace.

In the film, one of the peregrines can be seen on its perch, oblivious to the light rising above the twinkling streetlights of the sleeping city.

What do you think? What are your explanations for the UFO?