Photographer Melanie Riddle stepped outside at 8.45pm to capture some images of the moon and initially thought the conditions were too hazy.
"Then I looked again and realised the moon was actually to my right. I raced inside and grabbed my husband Chris. He didn’t know what it was either," she said.
"It had a glow at its front, it looked like a car driving into fog. We watched it for ages while it was heading due east, towards Christchurch, and then it turned and headed south, and faded as it went."
Ms Riddle captured some images of the phenomenon and social media soon lit up as people weighed in with their thoughts and likely explanations.
However, those hoping for an alien invasion were disappointed.
Grey district councillor Tim Mora was driving from Christchurch back to Greymouth when it appeared.
"We would have been at Jacksons when suddenly we saw this thing in the sky.
"We watched it for about half an hour, it sort of got brighter and faded and came back.
"My understanding is that it is a Russian FREGAT DEB, a decaying rocket or satellite.
"They have a thing called passivation that means once the rocket has delivered its payload it gets rid of its excess fuel so it is no longer a hazard in space, and that is most likely what we witnessed," Cr Mora said.
"However, I am in the dog box as I did not stop for my [photographer] wife to take a photo."
Sightings were reported right around New Zealand. — Greymouth Star
By Meg Fulford
