Meteor explosion witnessed in BOP

Eyewitnesses report seeing the night sky illuminated. Photo. Daniel Hines.

Residents across Tauranga and the North Island are sharing their stories after spotting a bright meteor coursing through the night sky.

There are several eyewitness accounts of what is being referred to as a 'big piece of rock" breaking up in the sky at around 8.10pm on Wednesday night.

Eyewitness accounts on the WeatherWatch meteor reporting page spread from Taranaki to Whangarei with some spotting the event from the Bay of Plenty.

One eyewitness on Twitter reports seeing the meteorite with a 'very bright and long tail” over Tauranga.

Another eyewitness, who was fishing in Mount Maunganui, commented on the WeatherWatch reporting system that he saw a pretty big rock around the same time.

'Upon entry into atmosphere it broke into two with the larger piece still streaking through the sky for about four seconds,” they say.

'Then, boom, it exploded again leaving still a big piece of rock flying.

'It must have landed somewhere because damn that thing exploded twice and was still going strong before it went out of view.”

The eyewitness called it the 'best thing” they have seen in their life.

Other eyewitness accounts suggest the meteorite was heading north-east with sightings in various Auckland suburbs.

The Lyrid meteor shower hit its peak in New Zealand last week so it is not clear if the sighting is related to the annual event.

Did you see the meteor? Have video of the event?

Contact us at 0800 SUNLIVE or email newsroom@thesun.co.nz.

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