Residents across the North Island have reported seeing a fireball flash through the sky and hearing thunderous booms late last night.

Footage provided to the Herald showed several large flashes of light before a bright ball of light fell and disappeared into the night sky.

The bright light explosions illuminated almost the entire sky in a video taken around 10.30pm in Wellington.

Meteor monitoring organisation Fireballs Aotearoa said it received multiple reports of a bright fireball meteor over the lower North Island.

Social media users in Wellington, Kāpiti, Manawatū and Palmerston North reported hearing and seeing the “orange flash”.

The astronomical event stretched across the North Island, with people seeing it in Auckland and Bay of Plenty.

The oddity sounded like a “rocket or ”sonic boom" some users commented.

“Sounded like a cross between a train not running on the track with a bit of thunder mixed in.”

One person said their “cows went nuts” while another said it upset their animals.

One texter on Newstalk ZB’s Marcus Lush Nights show said they “saw a massive fireball fall through the sky with what looked like a trail [of] sparks behind it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Another said they saw it while driving in Manukau, Auckland.

A fireball meteor fell over the South Island on Sunday, which Fireballs Aotearoa’s Steve Wynn-Harris said likely crashed off the east coast of Canterbury.