Police Cadet Brian Whitham with the "can" and the remains of the balloon and radar target.

A strange object from the upper atmosphere landed in Junction Street, Burnley, at the weekend. After falling about 15 miles it got tangled in telephone wires, where it was found by garage owner Mr Ivan Dixon, who identified the object - a weather balloon. He said: "The thing was just hanging from the telephone wire. There was a metal container, a balloon, which was in shreds, and a thing like a kite. With all the instruments it was obviously something to do with the weather."

Mr Dixon contacted the police, who are arranging to have the instruments returned to a meteorological centre. A spokesman at the Manchester Weather Centre said weather balloons are sent up four times a day from weather stations around the country. The instruments measure temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure and wind direction. They usually reach a height of 15 miles. So high up the pressure gets less, the balloon expands and eventually bursts. He said the device consists of a balloon and a radar target so stations can get readings while the instruments are in the air, this was thought to be a kite. Under this is a parachute and then there are the instruments, known as the "can".