Craig Charles is to present a ten-part series on alien encounters for Sky History, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

The Red Dwarf star hosts Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies with astrophysicist, journalist and author Sarah Cruddas, in which the pair scrutinise evidence of some of the most inexplicable UFO sightings.

The ten hour-long episodes will air from the 11th of January.

"The making of this programme was a thrill for me and led us on an extraordinary journey into the unknown" said Charles. "We were given the opportunity to examine some of the most unbelievable cases from around the globe and heard mind-blowing first-hand witness testimony.

"Working with Sarah and using her scientific scrutiny, we examined a mountain of evidence in which we were able to hunt for the truth about what is really going on in our skies. The whole experience was eye-opening and sometimes left us unable to come to an earthly conclusion!"

Each episode will find long-time UFO enthusiast Charles and Cruddas investigating a major sighting of unexplained phenomena from their "Investigation Hub", speaking to experts and eyewitnesses about such encounters as the US Defence Department's leaked footage of unidentified aerial vehicles buzzing around US warships off the coast of California in 2004; the infamous Rendlesham Forest incident of 1980; the spectacular Phoenix Lights phenomenon in Arizona and the notorious Alan Godfrey UFO sighting over Todmorden in Yorkshire in 1980.

Cruddas, who has previously appeared as a space expert on Dara O Briain and Brian Cox's Stargazing Live for BBC Two, added: "We are living in an incredible time for space exploration, but we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of what is out there, what it is that we are a part of. This programme has been a unique opportunity to delve into the some of those unknowns.

"Marrying together Craig's passion and enthusiasm with my own thirst for evidence and an application of science, we have been able to explore what is going on in our skies like never before. Some of the answers are likely to be stranger than anything you could ever imagine."

Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies is produced by Michelle Horton for Firecracker Films (Jamie: Drag Queen At 16), with Jamie Langton as director, Sam Emmery as executive producer, Jes Wilkins as chief executive officer and Julie Scott as production executive.

"We are delighted to be working with Sky History and this fantastic on-screen pairing on such a timely series, which comes out at a time when the debate about UFOs in the USA and around the world has never been taken more seriously" said Wilkins.

The series was commissioned by Dan Korn, vice president of programming at A+E Networks UK, and Diana Carter, commissioning editor and head of talent.

"These are fascinating and fun re-investigations of incidents which, in many cases, appear to defy conventional scientific explanation" said Korn. "We are delighted to be working with the multi-talented Craig and Sarah who, between them, combine just the right amount of energy, enthusiasm and healthy scepticism to make sense of some of these baffling episodes."

Charles will also shortly host the Channel 4 daytime quiz Moneybags, in which contestants face a series of questions with the answers on bags that pass along a conveyor belt.