A dazzling fireball lit up the night sky over the capital late on Friday night, stunning residents and triggering a flurry of dashcam and webcam sightings across the lower North Island and upper South Island.
Dashcams and security cameras from Wellington to Nelson captured the vivid blue-green streak as it tore across the sky at around 11.25pm on Friday, glowing intensely before fading from view.
Social media lit up within minutes as people compared what they’d seen.
"It was huge and blue. Then when it fizzled out it left this line in the sky like a jet. So cool!" one viewer wrote.
Another called it "freaking epic".
Drivers on the motorway also reported dramatic views of the spectacle.
"I was driving home on Transmission Gully, and it cut right across the entire night sky like a giant laser knife," one person said.
"It left a thin streak of vapour that hung in there for a while after — it completely wigged me out."
Do you have any pictures or videos of the meteor? Send them to news@tvnz.co.nz
Amal Prasad and his wife Priyanka were heading out on a late-night Maccas run from Lower Hutt when they saw a "bright ray of light" appear across the sky.
He told 1News they were confused by the sighting at first.
"I initially thought it was a reflection from another vehicle's headlights, but the light got bright very quickly, leaving a long streak of different colours across the sky," Prasad said.
"It was a crazy sight, and we were absolutely stoked to see it. When we got back home I checked dash-cam footage and was happy to see it caught it too."
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