Mystery surrounds Australia light show

A meteorite caused a fireball over the US this year

Residents of Australia's east coast experienced an unusual light-and-sound show which the authorities have not been able to officially explain.

Police said they had received dozens of calls reporting "explosions in the sky, sonic boom-type noises and flare-type lights" over a two-hour period on Tuesday night from residents along a 200 km (124 miles) stretch of coastline.

The size of the meteorite would probably be about coffee cup size - that would cause a sonic boom and would also cause some good flares

Ian Warren

No official reason was given for the unusual night sky action, but experts said the likely cause was probably a small meteorite.

Some residents had feared that the accident-prone Mir Space station was making a return back to earth in the area, following the news on Tuesday that Russian space officials had lost contact with the craft.

The booming noises were loud enough to shake some houses.

"There was a huge bang which shook my house," one resident of Bateman's Bay, 285 km (177 miles) south of Sydney, told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

"I thought the house next door had blown up," he said.

Explanation sought

Most meteorites are pieces broken from asteroids

Police said they had sought explanations from meteorology, air safety, emergency, and defence experts.

Australia's Deep Space Communications Complex said a small meteorite was the most likely cause.

"The size of the meteorite would probably be about coffee cup size - that would cause a sonic boom and would also cause some good flares around it," said Ian Warren, operations supervisor at the complex in Canberra.

Fire authorities in Canberra said they were investigating whether debris from the meteorite was the cause of three local grass fires which began overnight Tuesday.