A fiery green intruder from outer space sparked widespread alarm among bewildered skygazers who witnessed it burning up over Australia, authorities have said. Residents of the states of South Australia and Victoria Monday night deluged police and media with accounts of a green-coloured fireball hurtling westward through the evening sky. In Victoria, concerned callers to a radio station reported they had spotted an unidentified flying object bright enough to be visible at sunset, with one guessing it was a comet.
For the second night in a row residents in western Victoria have reported seeing a bright light in the sky. Residents at Ballarat, west of Melbourne, said they saw something that looked like a UFO after spotting an orange coloured light in the sky about 10pm (AEDT) yesterday. The object hovered for more than one minute. But one resident said it could have been a model helicopter.
There have been reports of at least one large fireball in the sky over south-eastern South Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says the fireball was most likely a meteor. It shot across the sky soon after 8:00pm ACDT and was followed by what sounded like a large explosion.
Residents in central and western Victoria have reported seeing a bright light, possibly a comet, streaking across the sky just before sunset. Callers to ABC Radio reported seeing the bright green coloured object shooting westward in the sky from Bendigo to Horsham in the state's north-west down to Colac in the south-west. One caller, Jeff, said he saw what he thought was a comet about 8.30pm (AEDT) as he was driving into Horsham.