A FINE METEOR.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 17, 11 May 1876, Page 2

A FINE METEOR.

The Sandon and Carnarvon .correspondent of the " Wanganui Herald " writes : —" The glorious meteor which appeared on Thursday night last was perhaps better seen by some friends of mine at Carnarvon than by any others. The;/ say that the meteor was of a perfectly circular shape, the outline being most distinct, the color an intensely bright yet livid blue, in size considerably larger than the moon, the whole sky in that quarter being as bright as day. The meteor, if such it was, seemed to fall, not perpendicularly as usual, but in- a curved fine, receding as it were from you to the west. The few meteoric stones that have ever been found have weighed generally some eleven or twelve lbs., one reaching to fifty lbs., and another, the largest ever heard of, fell in Switzsxiand, and was a solid irregular block, weiglnngfour tons ; and how the appearance of the other night could have created such an intense light, supposing it to be a meteoric stone of anything like the usual siz_, surpasses comprehension. A red line was seen ;.n the skies by many for ten minutes 01* more after the passage of the brighter eti'ulgence, which again, supposing it to, have bsen a stone or other substance, must by that time, or rather long before, liaye subsided into the earth or ocean. This appearance is hard to account for, unless the opinion is held that the original'; cause of the light was by attraction to soirfe other body lieid for a time in suspense as it were, meanwhile reflecting its jgbt.-"' Some friends who were living in the bush at Bull's told me that the light was so intense as to wake up all the ducks, pheasants, and other birds in the bush, which were so alarmed as to crow, and cackle, and scream in a most confused and unheard of manner. Others most distinctly affirm that they felt an earthquake at the same time, which would appear to be a most extraordinary coincidence if nothing more."