(Original headline: MYSTERY LIGHTS AT SEA )
Late night revellers in Pevensey rubbed their eyes as mystery objects appeared to be falling to earth from the sky.
Emergency services were inundated with calls from people who reported strange red, green and orange objects slowly falling to earth.
Sussex Police and Dover and Solent Coastguards began receiving the calls just before 10pm on Saturday.
People described them variously as 'red and green lights' or 'objects sinking towards the horizon'.
A Solent Coastguard spokesman said: 'We think they must have been space debris.'
A Met Office spokesman explained that several times a year the earth moved through debris left in space by passing comets.
He said: 'These tiny particles of ice and dust collide with the Earth's upper atmosphere at tremendous speed causing them to heat up, glow and burn up.
'These fireballs often appear to change colour, shower sparks and even leave trails of smoke.'
A Dover Coastguard spokesman said sights like these usually appeard in the west and moved slowly eastwards. 'We first get calls from the western coastal regions and we can track their progress until they move away from us altogether and head out to sea,' he added.
The next meteor shower to be seen from the coast will be from the Delta Aquarids in the moon's last quarter around July 27.
See also: Red, Green Lights Fall Over SE England
