Meteor spotted off NZ's west coast
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The mystery of lights spotted off the west coast of New Zealand overnight has taken a twist with Punakaiki residents reporting a large bang and jolt.
Are you on the west coast? Did you see the light in the sky? Send your pics to editorial@stuff.co.nz and post your comments below
Christchurch police received reports from Hokitika to Nelson of a light in the sky between 11pm and midnight, and Wanganui police received three calls of a bright light out at sea.
Wanganui police initially thought it was a flare but then reports came in from farther afield.
There were no reports of anything hitting the ground and a meteor is suspected.
But Les Wright, a resident of Punakaiki, a coastal settlement north of Greymouth, said he heard a rumbling sound followed by a loud thump as if something had hit the ground at about 8pm, which is about three hours before the lights were seen.
"There was one big jolt and then a smaller one. It was like an earthquake but not really," he said.
Prue Grant who lives on the beach at Punakaiki, also heard the noise.
"There was a huge bang, then a shake," she said.
Barrytown resident Sandy Passant saw red lights in the sky about 11pm. She also heard a noise at 8pm, and her partner Russell went outside to investigate but could not find anything.
"It was a very strange bang. We thought it might have been an earthquake but it was different -- just a big bang."
Canterbury University Mount John Observatory superintendent Alan Gilmore said he believed the thud was unrelated to the meteor at 11pm.
Gerry Lonie was on a fishing vessel near Hokitika and saw a meteor at 11pm.
"But there was a better one the night before -- there's been a few of them. It looked like a shooting star, it was quite a big flash but I didn't hear anything."
Constable Sean Judd, of Westport police, said he saw a light like a "very large, close up shooting star" just before 11pm. It lasted about three to four seconds before burning out.
"It was a white-green colour."
NZPA
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Well it seems there are sightings ranging in time from 9 to 11pm or after so either there was more than one meteor or it hung around a long time!
My husband & I were at home in Ngaruawahia (10 mins north of Hamilton. Around 11pm my husband said 'Look a shooting star' which we realised a few seconds later couldn't have been when a large flash of light followed. It filled the sky, similar to lightning. My husband mentioned then that he thought it was hopefully a falling meteor and not a plane crashing!
Snap....M8
awsom shooting star over Nelson wed morning approx 4.50 am.
I often see meteorites burning up in the sky over CHC. Some lasting 2-3 seconds and bright orange. Really great to watch. Would have been nice to see this one too.
Hi, I was driving from Taupo on the Poihipi Road when I caught a flash on the Western side at first I thought it was fireworks, I also saw red and green flashes. It happened quite fast and I was the only one in the car at the time who saw it.
I saw this as well, from my home in Linton! It would have been around 10:30-11 last night as I let my dog out, it started off as a shooting star then became a bright green colour with a tail, looked almost like a comet, very neat! Never seen anything like it. Didn't hear any noises from it though.
On Wed morning as I was traveling down the Kaimai Hill heading towards Tauranga, at about 4am I saw bright green flash in the sky and a big trail behind it. It was so bright that it lit up the sky & was probably in a south direction. Then again at 5am, the same thing in about the same direction. This time seen from Pukehinea, 15 min out of Matata in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.It was so bright that it lit up the sky & again it was green. There seem to be quite a bit of activity in the sky that morning with shooting stars. The morning was as clear as anything. It was quite amazing. This is straight up. No crap.
perhaps it was Tony Vietch's star falling......
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Has anyone else seen this!- a suspected meteorite was also sighted on Monday evening-streaking North to East over the puhoi ranges, by a resident in Krippner rd, Tahekeroa, North of Auckland. The flash of light was too big too be a flare and was travelling very fast across the sky followed by a tail of green and bright orange light. The path of the blaze appeared to dip beyond the residents trees to the East, but could have landed anywhere from Puhoi to Warkworth. A neighbour confirmed the flash of light lit up closed curtains it was so bright- North East Puhoi, at approx. 2235hours. Please confirm if there have been further sightings.