Orbital fireball

Residents on New Zealand’s South Island were startled by what appeared to be a slowly moving meteor that lit up the evening sky for about 30 seconds.

But astronomer Alan Gilmore told reporters that the fiery flash lasted far too long to have been a meteor, and it was likely a spacecraft or piece of space junk re-entering the atmosphere.

Gilmore says meteors typically are visible for only a second or two. Universal Uclick