LONDON, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- British police said Sunday night that there might never have been drone activity over Gatwick Airport at all.

There is no footage of the device which sparked it and it is "a possibility" there never was one, the police said.

Asked about speculation there was never such a drone flown over the airport, Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley told the BBC: "Of course, that's a possibility. We are working with human beings saying they have seen something."

"Until we've got more clarity around what they've said, the detail -- the time, place, direction of travel, all those types of things - and that's a big task."

However, earlier media reports said that detectives were examining a damaged drone for clues on Sunday night.

The detective said the arrests made on Friday night were the result of a tip-off from a member of the public. The couple arrested by Sussex Police on Friday night were released Sunday morning without charge.

The incident, which was sparked by a drone sighting on Wednesday at around 2100 GMT, left planes stopped from coming to or from the airport.

Flights were suspended for more than 36 hours when a device was reported to have been seen close to the runway on Wednesday night.

Sussex Police said there had been 67 reports of drone sightings -- having earlier cast doubt on "genuine drone activity."

About 1,000 aircraft were either cancelled or diverted, affecting about 140,000 passengers, during three days of disruption.