Two large meteors have illuminated New Zealand skies within three days of each other, the most recent on the night of July 28 when a bright fireball crossed the lower North Island and produced a sonic boom heard over a wide area.
Fireballs Aotearoa, the citizen science network that tracks meteors across New Zealand, reported receiving multiple reports of a bright fireball at approximately 22:26 local time on July 28. The organization shared dashcam footage captured by a motorist driving from Palmerston North to Levin, showing the object streaking across a clear night sky. A camera in Toatoa, in rural Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty, also recorded a yellow glow falling from the sky.
Witnesses from across the North Island described the event in reports compiled by RNZ and 1News. A person in Turangi described the fireball as orange with a purple tail, with black soot visible coming off the object. Residents in central Hawke’s Bay reported the fireball appeared so close they thought it was outside their window. Sightings were reported as far north as Auckland and as far south as Ruby Bay in Tasman at the top of the South Island. Several people reported hearing a boom or rumbling sound, and one witness in Carterton compared the noise to a train running off its track mixed with thunder.
Steve Wyn-Harris, director of Fireballs Aotearoa, told RNZ that the fact the fireball was heard is significant because it indicates the meteoroid descended low enough into the upper atmosphere to potentially drop meteorite fragments. He said the network’s camera data was still being analyzed but that there was a rough idea of a possible landing area, though details could not be shared until more data was collected. He advised residents in the Wairarapa region to check gutters for small black stones with a fusion crust if they heard something hit their roof at the time of the event.
The July 28 fireball came three days after another large meteor lit up the sky over Canterbury on the South Island. On July 26 at approximately 17:51 local time, a fireball was captured on a Tesla dashcam traveling along Old West Coast Road toward Christchurch. The Press reported that the meteor appeared to have fallen east of Christchurch, likely into the sea off the Canterbury coast. Wyn-Harris said that if the object produced a meteorite, it would now be at the bottom of the ocean.
Wyn-Harris said New Zealand typically sees three to four meteors large enough to drop meteorites onto the ground each year. The country’s most recent confirmed meteorite was found in March 2024 near Takapo/Tekapo, where a search located the fragment within 30 minutes of a fireball sighting. That specimen was confirmed as New Zealand’s 10th recognized meteorite and is now on display at Tuhura Otago Museum.
Fireballs Aotearoa has called on the public to check security cameras, dashcams and weather cameras for footage that could help triangulate the trajectory of both fireballs. Reports can be submitted to the organization by email.
Images: https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news_crops/157647/eight_col_meteor.jpg
Sources: Fireballs Aotearoa (Facebook/FireballsNZ, Jul 28-29, 2026), RNZ/Krystal Gibbens (Jul 29, 2026), 1News/Jack Horsnell (Jul 29, 2026), The Press/Elsie Williams (Jul 26, 2026)