Meteor strike near , New Zealand

There was a very loud sonic boom caused by what is believed to be a meteorite. It flew over the city at a very low altitude which caused animals to go nuts, some windows to break and car alarms to sound. It happened about 2:55pm NZ time. I originally thought it was an earthquake because my whole flat shook but I found out later on eyewitness reports were of a object in the sky burning up fast. I can't confirm the size of the object but I was told it caused a fire in a rural area down south. Can anyone offer some clarification on this event? Below is a link to a NZ Herald article with eyewitness reports of the event.

www.nzherald.co.nz...



[edit on 12/9/2006 by simo]

I have read the news on the Internet too, here you have 1 of the articles I found:


CNN Meteor

Hundreds of people called emergency services to report a sonic boom Tuesday that scientists said was probably caused by a small meteor.

Residents in the southern city of Christchurch told police and fire services that the boom shook the ground and their houses.

Sonic booms are created when an object moves through the air faster than the speed of sound, about 700 mph.