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New Zealanders Hear Meteoric Sonic Booms

Hundreds of New Zealanders in the south of the country called emergency services regarding the sound of sonic booms on September 12, and scientists responded to the reports of the sounds, saying they were due to a small meteor entering the atmosphere above New Zealand. Residents witnessed a streak of light in the sky that then appeared to fade out, giving credence to this claim.

"I saw the end of it, it was quite big and bright and it was just shooting across the sky, then the light went out," said Matthew Miller, who was working about 50 miles south of Christchurch, New Zealand. "Then a minute later we heard the boom from it." A Christchurch Fire Communications spokesman said phone calls came in from concerned citizens, who were reporting that their windows were rattling and the air "shaking."

Allan Gilmore, resident superintendent of the Mt. John Observatory, told Kiwi radio stations that the sonic boom meant the meteor entered "very low" and would probably have been between the size of a baseball and a basketball before breaking up in the atmosphere. Sonic booms happen when an object travels in the air quicker than the speed of sound, or at about 700 miles per hour.