A bright object seen streaking across the Canterbury sky has been identified as a meteor, while another unusual orange streak photographed around the same time was a contrail.

People across Canterbury contacted chrislynchmedia.com on Sunday evening after spotting a bright object moving through the sky, with photographs showing different streaks above the region.

One image captured over the Port Hills showed a bright object with an orange trail moving across the sky.

Steve Wyn Harris, a citizen scientist from Fireballs Aotearoa, which tracks meteors and meteorites across New Zealand, said the object photographed over the Port Hills was a meteor.

“We now know there was a fireball meteor which fell out to sea off the East coast of Canterbury at 5.51pm.”

However, he said a separate photograph showing a long, wavy orange streak while looking west was a contrail.

“The fireball at 5.51pm on the 26th July was seen by a good number of eyewitnesses in Canterbury, east of Christchurch and likely out at sea given we are yet to hear of anyone hearing a sonic boom which indicates the event is close to the witness,” Wyn Harris said.

“It was just too early for our camera network to be recording as they come on automatically when it gets a bit darker.

“Anyone with security camera, dashcam or weather cameras in Canterbury facing east should check the footage between 5.50 and 5.52pm and report to [email protected] if they have captured this fireball.

“A fireball is a large meteor which in turn are also known as ‘shooting stars’.

“On average, New Zealand has three to four fireballs large enough to drop a meteorite onto the ground although they can be quite small.

“In March 2024, the Fireballs Aotearoa camera network detected a fireball that we calculated might have dropped a meteorite onto the ground near Tekapo.

“We organised a search and found it within 30 minutes.

“The Takapō Meteorite was subsequently confirmed as NZ’s 10th recognised meteorite and is now on display in Tūhura Otago Museum.”

The distinction explains why photographs sent to chrislynchmedia.com appeared to show different shapes in the sky.

The Port Hills image showed a much more concentrated bright object and trail, while the western image showed a longer, twisting orange formation.

The sightings prompted significant interest across Canterbury, with dozens of people contacting chrislynchmedia.com after seeing unusual activity in the evening sky.

Christchurch resident Robert Wells reported seeing what he described as an “awesome shooting star” moving towards the Port Hills.

“It was really low,” he told chrislynchmedia.com.

“It had a bright green tail and orange ball, couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”