FALL OF METEOR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 14 September 1940, Page 6

FALL OF METEOR.

THRILLING SPECTACLE

A "BOMB" AT PUHINUI.

I "It was like a brilliantly-blazing football, with a fan-like, sparkling tail, and I thought it was going to conic down on top of me," dcclarcd a southern , suburban resident in describing an exporience he had last night when walking across his farnilet at I'uhinui, a couple of miles below I'apatoctoe. The reference was to a brilliant meteor which lit up the south-eastern sky just after 7.30 last night, and gave a number of Aucklaudcrs a thrill which lasted for about four seconds. From the city it appeared that the progress of the meteor* was distinguished by a flickering halo of blue light that terminated behind a cloud on the horizon. Much more thrilling to the Puhinui resident was this phenomenon of a cloudless, star-spangled sky suddenly erupting a ball of fire at his defenceless head. It seemed to be coming straight at him as he walked through a paddock, he said, and his impression was that it was a body of brilliant white incandescence with several streamers throwing off sparks. His first feeling was to run for his life, and then came tho impression that it would "get him - ' whatever ho did. So he just stood and stared. Then, when the awesome, blazing thing was some incalculable distance away, but apparently abo«.t 200 ft above the ground, it suddenly disrupted i»« a burst of sparks—and was gone.

Seen in the city to-day, this visitor from south of the border down Puhintu way, who told so graphically of his exliciiencc, explained that he had not been a resident of the district for any great length of time, and had not heard of any meteorite stone having been found there. Neither was lie'able to find any such trace of last, night's visitation.