The view from Mahia, where Rocket Lab launches its ships. Photo / Liam Clayton
Robinson said he first noticed the phenomenon after casting his fishing rod and turning to look inland.
“I looked at the sky and went, ‘Wow, what’s that? That looks cool’. Then realised, ‘Oh, that’s something a bit different. I’ll grab my camera and take a few photos’.”
The images show a bright, twisting plume stretching across the evening sky.
Robinson said he initially wondered whether it could have been space junk or a meteor.
“I just thought, ‘What is it? Is it space junk? Is it a meteor? What’s in the sky’?”
He later learned it may have been connected to the Rocket Lab launch from Māhia, an explanation he said made sense given he had been looking south from the eastern Bay of Plenty coast.
“It just looks spectacular. I just stood there and gazed at it thinking, ‘This is amazing. This is really cool’.”
A view from Omaio Bay, East Cape. Photo / Murray Robinson
Reports of the phenomenon came from across the North Island, including Tokoroa, Rotorua, Hastings, Dannevirke, Manawatū, Masterton and communities along the East Coast.
Earlier in the day, the Tauranga Astronomical Society had given followers a heads-up that there was a chance of a so-called “space jellyfish” appearing if launch conditions lined up.
The society described the phenomenon as a “spectacular apparition caused by sunlight illuminating the exhaust plume from the rocket”.
A space jellyfish occurs when a rocket’s exhaust plume is illuminated by sunlight at high altitude while observers on the ground are already in darkness.
The glowing plume can create a striking jellyfish-shaped appearance often mistaken for a UFO or other unexplained object.
Rocket Lab told the Herald it was their 98th Electron rocket launched from the Māhia site.
“People have shared their photos and reported seeing the launch from Tauranga through to Wellington,” a Rocket Lab spokesperson said.
“It’s always great to see such strong support for our missions from across the country.”