Meteor lights up the sky in New Zealand

Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 5:27 PM - A meteor zipped through the sky over New Zealand Wednesday, turning night into day for a brief moment.

The incident occurred around 10 p.m. and the flash was seen over a large portion of the country.

Social media lit up with reports  while Weather Watch, New Zealand's weather authority received dozens of comments.

"This was an exceptionally bright flash of light across the country, with many people saying they heard sonic booms that scared them and the animals," Weather Watch head weather analyst Philip Duncan told the New Zeland Herald.

No debris has been recovered, but spectacular dash-cam video of the event has surfaced on YouTube:

While video like this is rare, meteors hitting the Earth are not.

According to NASA approximately 100 tonnes of meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere every day, varying in size from dust fragments to large rocks.

Sources: New Zealand Herald | YouTube