Did anyone see balls of fire over Hoo this week? A caller to the kmfm breakfast show did.

The listener told presenter Richard Walters of yellow flames falling through the sky near his Medway home.

“Yellow flames from a ball of fire caught my eye. It was falling through the sky above Hoo and leaving a smoke trail behind it.

"It was really weird and I have no idea what it was. It was like something had fallen off something.”

The caller went on to say that the fire appeared to burn out at 500 feet above the ground, and then disappeared completely from view.

Was it a UFO? or falling debris from a passing jet?

Mark Burchell, Professor of Space Science at the University of Kent said it was almost certainly something extra-terrestrial.

He said:“Seeing hot objects falling from the sky is one of the really exciting things about astronomy.

"It could be a meteorite coming in, a small one a few centimetres across will burn up and produce a shooting star, and this happens almost every night.

“ It’s lucky if you see a larger one which is a bit more dramatic, and these are just nice events.”

“Usually the larger ones come in showers.

"This time of year there will be occasional ones. It does happen so it’s not a surprise, but it’s a perfectly natural phenomenon.

“These are just pieces of rock burning up at very high speeds as they enter the atmosphere. This is the most common explanation."