As they peered into the gloom with raging winds howling around them, they thought a giant UFO had landed in their garden.
All Keith and Anne Cragg could see, pressed up against their window, was a sinister black object with large metal legs.
As menacing rain clouds raced across the sky, they braved the squall to investigate and realised what a lucky escape they had just had.
A 14ft trampoline, whipped up by last night’s (December 23) storm had been tossed like a feather across a field and into the side of their home.
Anne and Keith, who live off Beacon Road, Ditchling were in bed when they heard the bang.
“The trampoline was blown all the way from a neighbour’s house across a field and into the side of our house,” said Anne. “You can see bits of debris in the field.
“When we heard the bang we looked out and saw metal bars and thought it’s a UFO! Then we thought the TV aerial had come down.”
Keith, added: “It looked like a UFO because of its shape. The trampoline was a great, heavy thing and must have been blown 200 yards.”
Miraculously, the Cragg’s home was undamaged and a neighbour came round today (December 24) to collect what is left of his battered trampoline.