A meteoroid or re-entry satellite is likely the cause of the “meteor-like” flash seen in the skies around the lower North Island.
And earthquake seismometers around the Wellington region, as far north as Upper Hutt, detected the unknown falling object’s atmospheric shock wave.
stuff received many messages related to the object shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday.
Rebecca Vergunst was walking through the gate to her home in Carterton when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
Vergunst, the district’s deputy mayor, said she saw a “giant orange streak” in the sky, followed by a “blue smoke trail.” “I also heard a kind of crackling.”
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She went in and was sitting on the couch when she heard a “big bang” and felt the house rattle a bit, assuming it was caused by the falling object she thought was a shooting star.
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A flash in the sky was captured on the camera of this resident of Plimmerton’s home.
Curtis Powell said he was driving to a track in Shannon when he saw a huge flash fall in front of him.
“Then I realized my dashcam was rolling and saved the video. [It] was pretty amazing. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.”
Anthony Olsen was on his quad bike in Longburn, just south of Palmerston North, around 2:15 p.m. when he saw a “bright orange line” cross the sky.
He said there seemed to be “little sparks” coming out at the end.
It flashed through the air for about 10 seconds before fizzling, leaving a large trail of smoke.
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Curtis Powell was driving to a track when he saw a huge flash fall in front of him. His vehicle’s dashcam captured this.
GNS Science’s chief seismologist, scientist Stephen Bannister, said GeoNet earthquake seismometers around the Wellington region detected the atmospheric shock wave.
“The shock wave was first detected by the GeoNet seismometer PLWZ, which is located on the east side of Pallister Bay.”
He also said that the shaking people felt at the time could come from the object’s shock wave.
Astronomer and director of the Otago Museum, Dr. Ian Griffin, said the object could be a re-entry satellite or possibly a meteoroid, a space rock that passes through Earth’s atmosphere and survives its passage.
“It sounds like there’s been a really interesting event somewhere in Wellington,” he said. “Many people have reported a fireball in the sky.”
Griffin believed it was probably a fireball, a large falling meteor.
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A smoke trail from an object that fell from the sky on Thursday afternoon.
A similar event in 1999 over Taranaki was widely reported with witness statements from Timaru to 90 Mile Beach in Northland. He said they were “uncommon”, usually seen every few years.
“If you have videos or photos of the event, it’s really important to keep them, because we might be able to use them to pinpoint the position of the thing, and where it landed — if it landed,” he said.
“Even if you saw it and heard a bang, that’s pretty interesting too. Knowing the time between seeing the flash of light and hearing the bang gives us a sense of distance.”
It may be “quite scientifically important” to retrieve the object, Griffin said. “Meteorites in this country are quite rare, so it would be pretty cool to get one.”
Nelson-based space scientist Dr. Duncan Steel said it was possible for space debris to reenter, but also thought it more likely it was a fireball. It was very unusual to see one during the day.
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A “meteor” near Wellington was captured on dashcam footage.
“We do have databases of expected return of objects from orbit and it may be possible to identify this object from them. But if not, it’s probably just a random chunk of rock from an asteroid that just happened to hit Earth and got the people here in New Zealand really excited.
He’d only seen one during the day, some forty years ago. “They’re due to macrometeoroids in the atmosphere entering very quickly, usually 30 kilometers per second.”
To be seen during the day, it would have to be quite large, something the size of a rugby ball or larger — that’s what makes them rare, he said.
Steel said Vergunst gave a “brilliant witness report” and said the crackling sound she described was an electrophone sound.
He said those with receivers near their ears — long hair, glasses or a hat — allowed people to pick up radio emissions from the meteor, hence the instant popping sounds. The later big bang was the shock wave, which arrived more slowly at the speed of sound.