“Everyone’s calling it a meteorite.”The International Meteor Organisation shared to Facebook early this morning that an 11-tonne Chinese rocket re-entered the atmosphere at 12.39am UTC (1.39am NZT). The rocket re-entered the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean, 800km south of New Zealand, according to the US Space Force. “I thought I was going a bit insane.”Carl saw green and red in the sky. “It had a really long green tail.”On popular Facebook group Vic Deals, one user posted, “I just saw the most mental-looking shooting star over Wellington”. Sammy Carter is a journalist for the New Zealand Herald covering news in the Wellington region.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 31, 2026 03:01 UTC