In the daytime, this sculpture looks impressive, particularly in misty conditions when it abruptly emerges from the fog and clouds. At night, it’s especially enchanting, as its 500 blue LED lights give it the spooky appearance of a UFO hovering over the hill.

This artwork is the most recent of the sculptures in the Panopticon series, which are all in East Lancashire and include the Singing Ringing Tree. It was constructed on a reclaimed landfill site on Top O’Slate, one of the hills overlooking the Pennine town of Haslingden.

The artwork was designed by architect John Kennedy of LandLab. It was constructed in 2007 as part of the wider Panopticon Project by the East Lancashire Environmental Arts Network.

The 59-foot diameter circular steel and perspex lattice structure stands on three large legs. Its lights are powered by a nearby wind turbine and have been specially selected to not to attract night-flying insects.