Scientists rule out possibility that jelly-like marbles that fell in Dorset garden could be living material.

They have provoked much speculation - some serious, many tongue-in-cheek.

But scientists believe they are close to solving the mystery of the blue balls that (apparently) rained down on a garden in Dorset.

Bournemouth resident Steve Hornsby reported how the sky turned dark, then yellow, then blue, transparent, "jelly-like" balls began falling out of the sky during what he thought was a hailstorm.

He wondered if they had dropped out of a plane. Others thought they may have been eggs from a marine animal, possibly dropped by a bird. Some of the more fanciful suggestions were that they might be the bodily secretions of angels while others began to prepare for an alien invasion.

A jar of the objects was taken to the school of applied sciences at Bournemouth University, which provided an initial analysis on Tuesday.

Research assistant Josie Pegg said: "Speculation on the nature of the mystery jelly balls has provided much entertainment, but now that we have possession of a sample we can rule out some of the early guesses. Having examined the balls under a high-powered microscope, we can discount living material."

So not eggs and, almost certainly not alien life-forms.

The clue may have been in the fact that the balls were only found in the garden and not on nearby roads or roofs.

Pegg said: "The balls do look very much like the florists' hydrating jelly, as suggested by some eagle-eyed members of the public.

"The next step will be to run chemical analysis of a sample of the mystery jelly, to determine its makeup, and at present a sample is desiccating in preparation for this process."