Meteor lights up night sky across New Zealand

A "blinding" flash, intense explosion and sonic booms experienced over much of the country last night were probably caused by a meteor, experts agree.

About 10pm, the flash, described by many as a burst of blue and white light, was seen from Whangarei to the upper South Island.

WeatherWatch.co.nz, which has a dedicated meteors page, received dozens of comments.

"This was an exceptionally bright flash of light across the country, with many people saying they heard sonic booms that scared them and the animals," head weather analyst Philip Duncan said.

Two Hamilton friends had a close encounter with the meteor.

Fletcher Hodge, 33, and Michael Mckee, 30, were travelling back from Rotorua having purchased a possum plucker off TradeMe when they noticed the sky getting "bluer and brighter".

Mr Hodge, 33, said he looked out the driver's side of the vehicle they were travelling in to view what he thought was a shooting star.

"The next minute it was practically at the right hand side... like only 200-300 metres away. It came in slow then sped up. There were big bright blue flashes and then it went straight down into a gully," said Mr Hodges.

"I was quite freaked out. I was like, what the hell... this is the end.

"I've seen shooting stars and comets break up but I have never been so close in my life. It was like looking out at a street light from your house and it looked closer than a street light."

David Britten, astronomy educator at Auckland's Stardome, said witness reports were consistent with meteoritic material or space rocks entering the atmosphere.

"It's interesting that this has been seen in multiple places, which seems to show that it's some sort of bunch of material that's entered the atmosphere."

Loud booms following a bright explosion often occurred when such material entered the atmosphere.

"It's a bit like watching fireworks in the distance. It takes quite some time for that soundwave to reach the ground. It would seem to indicate meteoritic material."

Auckland man Alan Charman, a keen skygazer and amateur astronomer who tracked the lights from his home in Flat Bush, also believed the explosion was a meteor. "It looked to be exactly north-east of us, heading what looked to be exactly north on the compass, streaking across the sky.

"It lit up the sky and the colours and that was almost exactly at 10pm," he said.

"I heard ... probably three or four booms of the explosion a few minutes later.

"You could actually hear the thing passing, obviously even enormously distant -- it was a sensational thing."

Mr Charman compared the spectacle to photos and videos of the huge meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia in February 2013.

While it was nowhere near as big, last night's meteor lit up the sky in a similar way, he said.

Photo / Aaron Dunnett

Alex Lee, who was in Birkenhead, saw a "huge blinding flash" that turned from green to white, and a lingering smoke tail over central Auckland.

"[I've] never ever seen anything this spectacular before."

Pukekohe resident Kathryn Logan said it felt like her house had been shaken by an explosion around 10pm.

"Out the window I saw a very bright flashing light then approximately five minutes later our house was shaken by what felt like an explosion."

Aucklander Steve Bayliss, who had been out running, described a "low rumble" after seeing a flash of bright lights.

"At 9.58, there was a bright flash and just to the east of Auckland a meteor passed through the clouds. There was a long smoke trail and fire quite evident.

"It lasted for about one to two seconds. Minutes later, there was a low rumble."

In Thames, Rachel Railey said it felt like something had thumped the side of her house minutes after she saw a "very bright flash".

Karin Roussenq in Mt Maunganui described a trail of light, similar to a comet's tail, streaking across the sky.

"I was watching TV and I saw that light, which seemed to be lightning. Then I saw that golden light across the sky - like a tail of a comet - and something falling down like burning up, bright."

Dmitry Osadchiy was travelling around Coromandel for the day with his family, when he saw the flash about 10pm.

"At first we were not sure [what it was] because we were driving at night, it was so so bright... it was like headlights from the car reflecting in the mirror, but it was much more than that.

"It was a blue-ish flash across the horizon."

Mr Osadchiy said initially they thought it must of been lightning, but then they didn't hear any thunder.

"The skies were pretty clear, so it couldn't have been lightning."

Mr Osadchiy is originally from Chelyabinsk in Russia, where a huge meteor exploded in the sky in February 2013.

"I wasn't there at the time, but my parents and my brother live in that city," he said.

His family were in the country for his upcoming wedding, and quickly recognised last night's flash as a meteor.

"They guessed it was a meteor but it was kind of a joke, we weren't sure what it was 100 per cent, but it was one of the first guesses we had."

The Fire Service said it received multiple calls but there were no reports of fire. Police received 70 to 80 calls.

On its Twitter page last night, Auckland Civil Defence & Emergency Management said it had heard reports of a "large flash and sonic booms" across North Island.

"We are not experts but would suggest was a meteor (not asteroid) Did you see it?"

On Twitter it later said the "flash" in Auckland "was definitely not lightening".

- NZ Herald