-Caveat Lector-
Meteor Explodes Above New Zealand
By RAY LILLEY
.c The Associated Press
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A meteor exploded in the sky above New Zealand
on Wednesday, casting an eerie blue light and showering the earth with
fragments from space.
The explosion at 4:15 p.m. (1:15 a.m. EDT) was followed by smoke and a flood
of phone calls from people who saw the meteor streaking across the sky, the
Carter Observatory in Wellington said. No injuries were reported.
``It was picked up by aircraft and on radar, so we've had some air traffic
controllers calling too,'' said John Field, the observatory's public programs
officer.
The meteor was likely to have been either metal or rock and was probably as
big as a car, Field said. A rock meteor would have broken up into a shower of
stones as it came through the atmosphere. On average, one meteor falls to
Earth each week, he said.
Police said hundreds of people reported seeing the meteor over a remote part
of New Zealand's North Island - between the cities of Napier on the east
coast and New Plymouth on the west coast.
After a loud explosion, the meteor apparently broke up in the atmosphere,
leaving a vapor trail and blue cloud hanging, police said.
Reports of objects falling to the ground were received across the region,
police said, but no pieces have been reported found.
Brendon Bradley, an instructor with the New Plymouth Aero Club, said he was
flying when he saw the meteor.
``It was just a bright light, exactly like a flare,'' he said. ``Afterwards
there was smoke in the sky.''
Other witnesses described a bright flash, followed by an explosion and a
cloud of brown smoke.
``A big fiery ball came down. There was a terrific red glow and it sort of
went pop,'' said Eric Ray, a resident of the town of Te Aroha.
One man told police the explosion sounded like a natural gas tanker igniting.
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