Falling Meteorite Sparks Panic in Britain After Pilot Mistakes It for a Plane

A meteorite in southern England sparked a rescue mission after shocked onlookers thought they were seeing a plane crashing into the sea.

Firefighters were called out after a pilot and a fisherman both reported that an aircraft had fallen into the water in Whitstable, but the search was called off when no trace of the plane could be found.

A spokesman for the Kent Fire and Rescue Service told the Kent Messenger, "Two independent calls came in reporting a plane had crashed off the coast. Even a pilot who was looking out of his window reported a plane was in distress and had gone into the sea."

He added, "Fishermen in the area also reported seeing something, but in the end nothing was found, and it was put down to a meteorite falling to Earth."

Hundreds of meteorites streaked across the sky this weekend as the Earth passed through a cloud of dust left by behind by a comet called Giacobini-Zinner.