But Olson had “never seen anything like that before, that’s for sure”.
“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).
“Keep an eye on the sky!” the post said.
The rocket re-entered the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean, 800km south of New Zealand, according to the US Space Force.
Newstalk ZB caller Carl was driving on State Highway 1 in Levin when the meteorite felt like it was right in front of him.
“I thought I was going a bit insane.”
Carl saw green and red in the sky.
“It was like a big ball with a massive tail behind it.”
Caller Sue saw the moment near Whitby, describing “a red ball and then green and white and blue. It was absolutely spectacular”.
“I’ve never [seen] anything in my 75 years, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
She said it lasted a few seconds and left behind a pale white streak.
“It looked like a giant skyrocket going horizontal.”
Truck driver Ivan was going through the old State Highway 1 route near Plimmerton when he saw bright “lime, slime green” shooting across.
“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”.
Over 200 users commented, describing a “comet”, “giant laser knife”, and a “flying flame ball”.
One commentor joked: “It’s Captain Marvel.”
Users on Reddit said they’d seen the bright streak from Christchurch to Wainuiomata.
Sammy Carter is a journalist for the New Zealand Herald covering news in the Wellington region. She has previously worked at the Rotorua Daily Post.