Very bright fireball, sonic boom over Auckland, New Zealand
Image credit: Benjamin Pak
A bright fireball followed by a sonic boom was seen over North Island, New Zealand at 10:42 UTC (22:42 LT) on June 3, 2023.
The International Meteor Organization (IMO) received 19 reports from Auckland, Northland and Waikato, and 2 videos.
Professor James Scott from Otago University’s Department of Geology said he had received quite a few reports of meteor sightings.
“It was seen across the top of the North Island, and captured on a security camera and also one of the fireball cameras,” Scott told NZ Herald.
“There was also a sonic boom heard by several people. There will almost certainly be more security cameras that picked it up but that often takes a few days to show up.”
One of the witnesses described the event as a huge white ball flash heading north across the sky.
Others said it was a ‘massive meteorite’… a beautiful sighting that lasted 10 to 30 seconds, with very bright white light, brighter than the moon followed by a long yellow tail and a small explosion before disappearing.
References:
1 Fireball event 2023 – 2882 – IMO – June 3, 2023
2 Meteor triggers bright flashes and sonic booms as it travels across North Island skies – NZ Herald – June 4, 2023
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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