Incredible phenomenon lights up 1500km stretch of Aussie coastline
The meteor, travelling as fast as 150,000km/h was spotted from Mackay up to Weipa and inland to Mt Isa.
Thousands of residents living more than 1500km apart have all witnessed the same incredible sight – a huge meteor crashing in Queensland in a spectacular light display.
Sightings came from Mackay, up to Weipa and as far inland as Mt Isa as the sky flashed green, then orange on Saturday night at around 9.20pm.
One resident in the rural town of Normanton captured the moment the display interrupted an event at the local oval.
Sharelle Bee posted a video to Facebook, where it quickly gained 1500 shares.
“It was so bright and it ended in an explosion,” she wrote. “My heart skipped a beat and started racing.”
Cairns Airport shared vision of the moment the flash of light arcs over the nearby mountain ranges. Others thought they had seen lightning or “aliens” – describing the scenes as “crazy” and “so scary”.
“We felt the explosion here in Croydon and big loud bang,” resident Kia Peterson wrote on Facebook.
Another Croydon local said they heard the “biggest bang” and said it was “scary”.
The bang could be attributed to the meteor ‘exploding’ nearby, astronomer Ian Maclean told The Cairns Post.
“Clearly it’s exploded in the upper atmosphere somewhere in the Gulf region, west of Cairns and was felt and heard in Croydon,” Mr Maclean said.
He added the meteor’s light, at its peak, was as bright as the sun.
Australian National University’s Dr Brad Tucker told the ABC the meteor was likely 50cm to 100cm long, and would have been travelling at speeds of up to 150,000 km/h.
Yahoo News has contacted CSIRO for more information.
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