Bright lights in the sky over New Zealand tonight were likely from a meteor, an expert says.
Skywatchers across the North Island reported a possible meteor or space junk sighting about 9pm. Sightings were reported around the country, from Whāngārei to Auckland, to Rotorua, the Hawke's Bay and Nelson.
Auckland Astronomical Society president Bill Thomas said he couldn't rule out the light coming from a falling satellite, but he thought it more likely the cause was a meteorite.
"There's a visible sort of tail, whereas a satellite [is] like a point of light moving across the sky ... bright [meteorites] like that one as not that common in the one place, but they're common worldwide."
Photos posted online showed a dazzling light in the sky.
The camera crew operating during tonight's Black Caps v Sri Lanka ODI at Mount Maunganui caught a glimpse.
It seems a number of people gazing skyward this have noticed a meteor making its way across NZ this evening, and given us a call to let us know.
— New Zealand Police (@nzpolice) January 5, 2019
Rest assured, we have confirmed with our Paranormal Division, and it is nothing to be concerned about💥💫
Thomas said the suspected meteor looked like it was breaking up. Stoney meteorites tend to break up, whereas those made of iron and nickel were stronger and less likely to.
The space rock might have been the size of a football, he said.
"It's hard to say, but if it broke up like that it would probably be a fairly decent size.
Taupo man John Furminger was at Lake Rotorua when he and four others spotted the "amazing" sight at 9pm.
"It left a vaper trail so it was absolutely in the atmosphere. it looked like a very large sky rocket. It went right across the sky."
#meteor #satelite #newzealand #aliens #auckland #wtf #abouttime pic.twitter.com/58gMIhQnb8
— Muzza (@oneleftshoe) January 5, 2019
He thought it was space debris, but Auckland man Joe Napara, at Parikai Springs, said he saw what looked like a shooting star.
"It went for more than 10 seconds. It was pretty amazing."
Graham Billings was having dinner at an Italian restaurant in Whāngārei when he spotted something in the sky.
Billings said: "It was definitely a meteor. I wondered what it was for a bit but we can still see the smoke trail.''
There is a meteorite over Bay Oval... #NZvSL pic.twitter.com/f3s62K336f
— The ACC (@TheACCnz) January 5, 2019
May and Brian Seager happened to be looking up at the sky, discussing the dangers of drones, when they thought they spotted a drone.
"It just went whizzing by. It was a bright light and then it went green and left like a vapour trail.
"It was going way too fast [to be a drone] and it looked like it broke up into two pieces afterwards.''
The couple, who have been married for 30 years, said they felt lucky to have seen it together.
The Seagers were on Auckland's Tamaki Drive when they saw the meteor just before 9pm.
In Napier, Steve Bloor saw a spectacular display.
"It looked like a jet plane at first. and I thought I could see that. But then it broke up into a million pieces - like fireworks.''
Jen Maloney is in Whangamatā holidaying with friends.
She said she and six of her mates saw two displays in the sky tonight - one about 8.55pm and a second about 9.10pm.
"The first thing we saw was just beautiful and dramatic. It was green and looked like it was disintegrating off Waihī.''
Maloney described a second ball in the sky appearing about 9.10pm.
"It was red and looked like a solid ball. It was going in a different direction [to the first one] and it was glowing.''
She said afterwards, there was a "singe'' smell in the air.