Look! What's that in the sky above Hull? Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
Is it the International Space Station (ISS) arcing across the sky carrying six astronauts?
No, of course, not. All those things are ridiculously far-fetched.
A manned station travelling in the vast void of space in humanity's quest to unravel the greats questions of life, the universe and everything? You've been reading too much Arthur C Clarke, love.
The obvious explanation for the bright shining light moving across the heavens for precisely two minutes, starting at 5.41pm tonight, is that Santa's about and flying his sleigh high above East Yorkshire.
Our advice, if you have a youngster who's desperately awaiting the arrival of a fat, jolly, red and white home intruder with an insatiable chimney habit is to point skyward tonight to prove that the big man is indeed on his way - and not the ISS, whatever NASA say.
But why is Santa out now? They'll ask.
It's obvious, isn't it?
Christmas doesn't just happen on one night.
It takes Father Christmas all-year to prepare, making toys, surveying naughty and nice lists, stuffing the reindeers with flight-inducing hallucinogens and dealing the increasingly militant elf unions.
Santa doesn't just set off on Christmas Eve and hope for the best. He has to do a few familiarising dry runs first.
Tonight, and every night right up to Christmas Eve, at a similar time each evening, he'll be doing a practise flight in anticipation of the big night.
Either that or he's had one too many at the Snow Man office party and can't remember the way home.
To check when Santa will be in the sky each night – to impress your child with indisputable proof that he exists – log on to spotthestation.nasa.gov which is charting the heavenly body's progress each night.
The sight we're assured will be at a maximum elevation of 51 degrees, starting in the South West before shooting its way to East South East.
And for you nay-sayers, you non-believers and you perpetual inhabitants of the naughty list who don't believe the signal in the sky could be a mythical figure who brings joy and wonder to little children all around the world every year, do yourself a favour.
Have a look at the NASA website and on the bottom of the International Space Station orbital tracking page, see what else they're monitoring.
Apparently you'll be able to see a DRAGON at 5.34pm on Saturday too.Picture of the ISS by Mark Humpage from www.markhumpage.com
