A meteor lit up the eastern side of Australia on Thursday night, with many, including Macarthur Storm Chasers, capturing the moment. Photo: Macarthur Storm Chasers.
In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, a rare meteor flashed across the skies of eastern Australia on Thursday night (21 May), leaving many onlookers confused and curious.
The bright spark, caused by the meteor at 6:34 pm, could be spotted in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, as far inland as Junee, as far south as Albury and even in the southern parts of Queensland, with Canberrans also getting a good look at the rock.
Online onlookers were initially in awe of the light show before sharing their angles of the meteor.
“Did anyone just catch the meteorite that fell in the Northeast about 1 minute ago? Super bright. If anyone has phone or dash cam footage, I’d love to see it!” Rocky Dekkar wrote online.
“Omg, I saw it like a ball of green fire just falling diagonally!! I thought I was tripping,” another said.
“Who had an alien invasion for May 2026 on their bingo card?” another wrote.
Footage of the brief display has been captured by CCTV and dashcams across parts of NSW and the ACT, with even a Capital Football livestream of an Australian Cup Qualifier between Queanbeyan City and Canberra Croatia picking it up.
Helen McEldowney was travelling down Commonwealth Avenue when her car picked up the footage.
Australian National University Associate Professor Dr Brad Tucker told Channel Nine that the greenish colour indicates it was a meteor, demonstrating that it contained iron and nickel.
“The bright flash midway means it is likely fragmented or broke apart,” he said.
“It could be 30 to 50 centimetres in size based on the brightness.
“Colours of objects indicate what it is made up of. Space junk is usually more yellow.
“Meteors are travelling much faster than satellites or space junk as well, and so they cover a larger distance and are in the sky for a shorter time.”
Original Article published by Jarryd Rowley on Region Canberra.
