SIGHTING REPORT UFO sighting at Urmston, Manchester

There were 8 lights. They were round in shape, orange in colour and at an estimated 1000ft. Each object looked approximately 2.5" in diameter when viewed from the ground above the roof of the house opposite.

They remained stationary and in formation. They then started to fade away one by one.

These were originally sighted from my car whilst I was returning home from work. They remained in the air until I arrived home, approximately 3 minutes after I first sighted them from the road. I entered my house to retrieve my video camera. As I glanced out of my kitchen window, the first was starting to fade. By the time I had collected the camera and gone outside, the last object was disappearing from view.
Having spoken with others recently, I find that no-one else seems to have witnessed this phenomenon. I am starting to think that they may have been some military flares? However, I am struggling to rationalise that theory. I also noted that there was no extra ordinary activity in the hour afterwards. The Police Helicopter, (based 1/2 a mile away) didn't launch to investigate and no other unusual air traffic was observed. I would really like to know if anyone else in the area witnessed this event. I live in Urmston, Manchester. M418RJ.