Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Strange lights in Tauranga skies baffle and delight

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
16 Jan, 2020 02:02 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Strange sightings were seen in Tauranga skies on Wednesday night. Photo / Getty Images

Strange sightings were seen in Tauranga skies on Wednesday night. Photo / Getty Images

It wasn't a bird, and it wasn't a plane.

When Tauranga man David Hill saw a tight formation of bright lights travelling across the sky last night, he wondered what the heck he was witnessing.

Hill had been inside his Maungatapu home when his 12-year-old grandson excitedly called him outside.

My grandson just rushed in saying 'poppa, poppa, come and see this'.

"I thought 'what the hell is outside' and looked up and thought 'what is this?'.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Then we got nana out," he said.

"It looked like a whole lot of planes in line but they weren't flashing. I thought 'that's weird, why would you have a whole series of them altogether?'."

Satellites including a Starlink train can be viewed on interactive mapping sites. Image / Satflare
Satellites including a Starlink train can be viewed on interactive mapping sites. Image / Satflare

Hill gave the sighting more thought and realised the orbiting lights must have been satellites.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He saw about 10 passing across Orion's Belt. His grandson said he originally saw about 30.

"It was so interesting. I was a little excited about it. You just don't normally see a sight like that.

"Spacing would have been about the width of the Orion constellation and movement, luminosity and speed [was] very similar to the ISS," Hill said.

The series of satellites is believed to have been the second launch of a Starlink Satellite train.

Discover more

Street artist creates towering Teresa

15 Jan 03:00 AM

Te Puke security boss' family home robbed in broad daylight

15 Jan 04:00 PM
New Zealand

Owen Dippie 'disappointed' after Goldie mural painted over

15 Jan 07:00 PM

Weather: Cool temperatures make way for scorching week ahead

15 Jan 09:08 PM

It is understood the train was launched by SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, in November making its own system the largest commercial telecommunications satellite constellation in orbit.

No one from Tauranga Astronomical Society could be reached today but the group posted on Facebook page the Starlink Satellite train of satellites was passing over New Zealand about 10pm last night.

On the page, the society stated the satellites were "a spectacular sight to see" but could be problematic for astrophotography.

Pāpāmoa woman Megan Tietjen‎ said she saw 20 to 30 satellites pass above the clouds "all in a perfect straight line".

Others also commented that they saw the satellites, saying it was a "very cool" experience.

The satellite train passed from north-west to south-east.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings
Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

An almost identical case occurred two months after Malachi's death, the doctor said.

16 Jul 05:15 AM
Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation
Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

15 Jul 10:57 PM
'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough
Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough

15 Jul 09:44 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP