A large blue flash across the night sky has people abuzz on social media tonight.

People are reporting seeing a flash in the sky around 10pm, followed by a large rumbling noise.

Comet Lovejoy imaged on November 27th by Gerald Rhemann in Austria using a remotely operated 12-inch f/3.6 astrograph in Namibia.

A caller to the 0800 SUNLIVE news hotline says she saw it in Whitianga.

People from Taupo, Wanganui, Rotorua, Tauranga and Beach Haven are also reporting that they saw something flash in the sky.

People on Facebook are saying that the flash was a meteor, although nothing has been confirmed.

"The meteorite must have come close to us as the windows shook like an earthquake," one person said on Whitianga Chit Chat.

Another says: "Friends in Tokoroa saw it too, big blue flash of light."

On January 2, 2015, a green comet passed by planet earth on its first visit to the inner solar system for more than five hundred years.

That comet was reported to have been able to be seen by the naked eye.