meteor sighted off NZ west coast

Grant · #1 10-Jul-2008, 09:17

A shining light in the sky off the west coast of New Zealand overnight is believed to have been a meteor.
Christchurch police received reports from Hokitika to Nelson of a light in the sky between 11pm and midnight. Wanganui police received three calls of a bright light out at sea. Two people who called Wanganui police reported a white light.
Police initially thought it was a flare but then reports came in from down the west coast of the country.
There were no reports of anything hitting the ground.
Radio New Zealand reported that one person saw a ball of light entering the atmosphere and flaming out. An Air New Zealand pilot also witnessed the incident.

TokWW · #2 10-Jul-2008, 10:26

I reported a very low elevation meteorite three years ago that probably entered our forest horizontally and was well damped. Say approx 400m AGL and about the size of 1-2m diameter, black with crumbling orange front and a trail of faint debris, at about 800m distance. Was witnessed by another work colleague 1 block away, a blocking hill to the south meant we saw it for perhaps 2 secs max for a very small sweep of the sky - outside getting firewood at 6:15pm. Perhaps if further away, it was larger and more elevation.

ATO2 · #3 10-Jul-2008, 10:34

I missed seeing that one. They can be so spectacular!

TokWW · #4 10-Jul-2008, 12:32

It was the time of a spray of debris that skirted our atmosphere with reported strikes over a 5 week period in the US and other places and obvious meteors in the sky. This was very early in the time frame and I did some research on it, but very hard to follow up on the ground here for the large man made forest for 25 to 40kms depending on which direction or path it actuallty took. I will never see another one in my lifetime. I was rubbished by "knowledgeable" people in NZ. It was cold and not hot, might have been seen on airport radars, but definitely a low tragectory, and not going too fast.