--- description: A thunderous boom and a bright flash over the coast of northeastern Australia Monday night may have been a “big meteor” strike title: Did a Meteor Just Come Crashing Out of the Sky in Australia? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ea7ccdaca785cc5/6988a7a2cd1bbaba0170279c/rtsmv9s.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Australia](/tag/australia/) ## Australia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mysterious Flash Over Australia Was Likely a Meteor Crashing Offshore by [Feliz Solomon](/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 27, 2016 8:50 AM CUT  A meteor streaks across the sky during the Perseid meteor shower in southern Israel, August 12, 2016 A meteor streaks across the sky during the Perseid meteor shower in southern Israel, August 12, 2016Amir Cohen—Reuters by [Feliz Solomon](/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 27, 2016 8:50 AM CUT A thunderous boom and a bright flash over the coast of northeastern Australia Monday night [may have been a “big meteor”](http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/breaking-earthquake-hits-gladstone-residents-feel-/3094027/ "undefined") strike, according to local media. Police in Central Queensland were inundated with phone calls after residents felt the earth shake and saw a [bright light ](http://brightcove04.brightcove.com/23/1516257707001/201609/3428/1516257707001%5F5142805839001%5F5142800781001.mp4?pubId=1516257707001&videoId=5142800781001 "undefined")trail across the sky, according to the _Gladstone Observer_. The Australian government’s geological survey, Geosciences Australia, confirmed that a “tremor” near the city of Gladstone at around 8:30 p.m. local time was not an earthquake. > [](https://twitter.com/TMRQld/status/780627947791056896) Experts have since claimed the event was likely a large meteor striking near the coast. “The loud boom and bright light suggest an explosion of some kind, so meteor impact sounds like the best explanation, as far as we know at the moment,” David Parkinson, a cosmologist at the University of Queensland, told the _Observer._ No reports of debris have yet surfaced and it is believed that a crash may have occurred offshore. Residents swarmed social media to describe the mysterious event, some taking to the Facebook page of a popular weather watch group,[ Higgins Storm Chasing](https://www.facebook.com/HigginsStormChasing/posts/1127047637391022?match=aGlnZ2lucyBzdG9ybSBjaGFzaW5n "undefined"). “\[It\] looked like a big as hell shooting star and lit up the beach,” witness Jacques Reimers posted on the page, [according](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/27/it-lit-up-the-beach-reports-of-large-meteor-crash-off-queensland-coast "undefined") to the _Guardian_. “Then about a minute later a big bang and a shockwave came over the water and shook my car little bit was a pritty (sic) awesome experience.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4509196/australia-meteor-queensland-weather/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4509196/australia-meteor-queensland-weather/"},"headline":"Mysterious Flash Over Australia Was Likely a Meteor Crashing Offshore","datePublished":"2016-09-27T08:50:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:37:02.196Z","description":"A witness said it \"looked like a big as hell shooting star and lit up the beach”","url":"https://time.com/4509196/australia-meteor-queensland-weather/","keywords":["Australia","Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ea7ccdaca785cc5/6988a7a2cd1bbaba0170279c/rtsmv9s.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Feliz Solomon","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3ea7ccdaca785cc5/6988a7a2cd1bbaba0170279c/rtsmv9s.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A meteor streaks across the sky in the early morning during the Perseid meteor shower in Ramon Crater near the town of Mitzpe Ramon","caption":"A meteor streaks across the sky in the early morning during the Perseid meteor shower in Ramon Crater near the town of Mitzpe Ramon","creditText":"Amir Cohen—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/australia/","name":"Australia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4509196/australia-meteor-queensland-weather/","name":"Mysterious Flash Over Australia Was Likely a Meteor Crashing Offshore"}}]}] ```