A law enforcement agency’s social media users have been left starry eyed after a traffic stop with a difference was reported in the US.

Crawford County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri published pictures taken by officers who had pulled over a somewhat futuristic-looking vehicle that resembled a UFO.

In the post on its Facebook page, the agency saw the funny side of the encounter, saying: “Well, you never know what will be traveling through Crawford County but this one was a little out of this world.”

The “friendly humanoids” in the UFO-style vehicle had “come in peace”, they wrote, and were travelling, perhaps unsurprisingly, to a festival in Roswell, the New Mexico city long linked to extra-terrestrial activity.

There was a brief conversation “about his out of space, correction, out of state registration, but he assured us that he would take care of that issue when he returned to Krypton”, the office’s post continued.

“He was also warned about our strict enforcement of warp speed on the interstate and to keep his phasers on stun only while traveling,” it added.

The reaction on social media was similarly tongue-in-cheek, as several users said they had seen the vehicle elsewhere, some even uploading videos of the car on the road.

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There was praise, too for the office’s sense of humour, with one Facebook user referring to Star Trek as he claimed to have “recharged the owner’s dilythium crystals so he could continue!”

But several also worried about the safety implications of the vehicle.

More than one post identified the owner as being from Indiana, something confirmed by several media reports, including one from the Indy Star in 2014, which said the “saucer car” was “designed and built… from a cut down 1991 Geo Metro”.

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