An avid UFO hunter got exactly what he was looking for as he filmed the setting sun over Manurewa, a suburb of South Auckland in New Zealand on Aug. 2. As he was filming the clear skies and the setting sun, an unidentified flying object appeared to hover into a group of clouds before launching into space in a brilliant explosion.

Though the actual footage centered more on the beautiful landscape, the rather unusual maneuverings of the UFO were unmistakable. In the video, which could be seen below, the strange object was seen hovering over a group of clouds.

What was interesting, however, was that a few seconds later, the area above the clouds showed a brilliant flash of light, followed by the strange craft shooting straight up in the air. Considering the path the machine was taking prior to the flash, it would appear like the object initiated a full 90-degree maneuver.

After the rather spectacular explosion, the UFO gained speed and altitude, eventually disappearing into the skies.

While the raw footage does not provide a very detailed look at the strange craft, digital magnification of the film does show that the object seemed to be a disc-shaped craft. This, apart from the fact that it practically launched itself into space on its own after what seemed to fire up its thrusters, enticed UFO aficionados, who believe that the footage showed yet another proof that aliens do visit Earth.

As much as the UFO community is unanimous about the content of the footage, however, UFO skeptics have stated that the object in the footage was just a commercial aircraft flying in the area. According to critics, the supposed explosion from the UFO's thrusters were simply the sun's rays reflecting off the fuselage of the airplane.

This view, however, does not explain why the object seemed to launch straight into space a few seconds after the small explosion.

Other skeptics also weighed in on the footage, stating that it was probably a man-made fighter jet, firing its thrusters and shooting up into the sky.

Despite the innumerable possibilities surrounding the truth behind the mysterious object captured on that perfect New Zealand sunset, the footage does provide a pretty interesting view about what really lies just above the Earth's skies.