'Bright green fireball' streaks across evening sky

"Meteor, " illustration by Leonard Wikberg III, courtesy ScienceData.net)

A spectacular meteor sighting of what was described as a bright green "fireball" has prompted hundreds of calls to police and media in Australia.

"It was green like a meteorite or shooting star," one caller, Jeff, told ABC Radio. "It was really pretty bright and you could see something else coming down as well, but what it was, I don't know."

The bedazzling event occurred last night across South Australia and western Victoria.

"It was before sunset and normally you only see those things in the dark," another caller, Monty, said. "The trail hung in the sky for at least 15 minutes afterward like a jet stream."

Dennis Schiller of Riverland was in his car when the sky was suddenly illuminated.

"We were looking to the south and this massive fireball came out of the sky and it seemed to increase as it come down," he said. "We were absolutely amazed with what we saw ... and we were there discussing it and it would have been a good two minutes later that we heard a massive explosion."

Brian, who owns a farm at Laanecoorie, west of Bendigo, said he and his wife were outside when they saw the object flash across the sky.

"We looked up and there was a green comet-like thing dropping out of the western sky," Brian said. "It dropped over the trees at the back of our property and it was making a tail as it went down."

A spokesman for the South Australia police said the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the object was indeed a meteor.

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