Reports of fireball over New Zealand in what scientists think was rare daytime meteor

Scientists believe that a huge flash of light streaking across the sky in New Zealand was a meteorite.

Local media outlets and social media were flooded with reports and queries about the sight, with some witnesses describing rumbles, bangs, a crackling sound in their ears, hair standing on end, rattling windows or a streak or explosion of light.

Seismologists at Geonet picked up a sound wave from the object, and weather scientists at Metservice think they picked up the object on radar.

The phenomenon was captured on Powell's dash cam as he drove north of Shannon.

He said that he saw a blue line fall in the sky and a big bright light. I downloaded the video from my dash cam.

People shared pictures and stories of their encounters. One person said that he thought he was hallucinating when he heard about the catch.

People thought the sound was an earthquake.

There were no trucks near our house when we thought it was an earthquake, so we thought it was a large heavy truck. One person said that the house vibrated a bit.

Dr Duncan Steel, a Wellington-based space scientist who has worked for Nasa, said that seeing a piece of meteorite in the daytime was rare.

I have never seen a daytime meteor. They are caused by macrometeoroids coming in very fast. He said that they are rare because they need to be large enough to be seen during the day.

Steel said it was likely an electronic sound that people heard as the object moved. Allan Gilmore of the Mt John Observatory said in a radio interview that some people's hair could stand on end if they were hit by a meteorite.

Gilmore said that people with curly hair are more likely to hear it than people with straight hair.

Members of the public are urged to keep any photos or videos. He said that they might be able to use them to triangulate the location of the thing.

meteorites in this country are rare so fetching one would be cool.