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Australia mystified by mysterious bumps in the night
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  • SYDNEY (AFP) Dec 06, 2004
    A mysterious bright flash of light was widely reported to have crossed the east coast of Australia early Monday, leading to flood of calls and inquiries to police and media organisations.

    Residents along the New South Wales coast reported seeing a fast-moving, bright flash of light and hearing sonic-type rumbling and vibrations that awakened households.

    A caller to ABC radio from the small rural settlement of Taylor's Arm near Macksville said she had just climbed out of bed when the object lit up the hills.

    "It didn't seem to come out of the sky like lightning does," said the woman, identified only as Dorothy.

    "I thought it might have been a vehicle's lights flashing, but it was too much of a flash for that and it may have been five minutes later that there was a low rumble."

    New South Wales astronomer Rob McNaught did not witness the phenomenon but said it bore all the hallmarks of a meteorite coming within 20 kilometresmiles) of the Earth's surface.

    Australia's Sky and Space magazine news editor Dave Reneke, who lives at Port Macquarie which was within sight and sound of the object, said he believed it could have been a fireball, which is a larger and brighter meteor.

    "A meteorite is a piece of rock that simply leaves a long trail, but a fireball is one that really catches on fire," he said.

    "So this to me was a fireball coming in, moving at between 30 and 50 kilometres a second ... and exploding overhead," he said.




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