Eyewitnesses from Dryden to Brandon and as far south as Duluth, Minn., have reported seeing the object.

EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS SOUGHT

Ufology Research of Manitoba, a Winnipeg-based independent centre that collects data on Canadian UFO reports, is assisting the museum in gathering eyewitness accounts to determine the object's flight path. Spokesman Chris Rutkowski said he's received more than a dozen calls so far.

"They all report seeing a brilliant blue or green light moving through the sky with a long tail," he said. "There may have been somebody who captured it on a cellphone camera."

Young said the end point of the object's flight path is somewhere in northwestern Ontario. It's not known whether any pieces reached the ground.

"The first step is to figure out the trajectory and where pieces might come down," he said. "If it's a reasonable place to go looking, then we'll look for pieces," he said.

People can send an e-mail to skyinfo@manitobamuseum.ca or call 956-2830.

There was no other significant change in volcanic activity, the bulletin said. "We do not believe that a large-scale eruption is imminent," said agency official Akira Otani.

Authorities in the area have received no immediate reports of damage or injuries, according police official Shoichi Araki in Kagoshima city, across the bay from the volcano. There has been ash falling in the city for several days, he added.

The 1,117-meter (3,686-foot) high Sakurajima is one of Japan's most active volcanoes. Clouds of ash constantly drift from its crater. It sits in Kagoshima Bay, about 950 kilometers (590 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

Sakurajima's last major eruption was in October 2000, when smoke rose about 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) into the air and blanketed Kagoshima city in dust. That eruption did not cause any injuries.

With 108 active volcanoes, Japan is among the most seismically active countries in the world. The nation lies in the "Ring of Fire" -- a series of volcanoes and fault lines that outline the Pacific Ocean.

In 2000, an eruption at a volcano on Miyake Island, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Tokyo, forced all 4,000 islanders to evacuate the island. About half of them returned last year after the evacuation order was lifted.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

It was one of a series of powerful explosions, but hundreds of villagers living on the volcano's fertile slopes refused to leave, saying they wanted to tend livestock or crops. "Of course we're worried," one resident, Supriatun, said by mobile phone, adding that her small dairy farming community was so far untouched. "But as long as the hot clouds do not reach us, we won't go."

The governor of Yogyakarta province, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, said there was no reason for alarm. "There's nothing to worry about," he told Reuters. "There have been eruptions, but so far from the report I received this morning the conditions remain as of yesterday."

Another vulcanologist, Triyani, from the state-run centre for vulcanological research and technology development, said the increased emissions were not the huge eruption they were expecting.

"This is not the major slide we are waiting for. We could not ascertain yet when the biggest hot cloud will appear. We cannot project the time," he said.

Some scientists say a powerful earthquake on May 27 that killed more than 5,700 people in an area 25 miles south of Mount Merapi may have contributed to the volcano's volatility in recent weeks.

The rumbling mountain's lava dome has swelled, raising concerns that it could suddenly collapse and send scalding clouds of fast-moving gas, lava and rocks into areas yet to be evacuated.

Sutomo, a government official at the scene, told Associated Press that 3,500 people had fled Sleman district on Merapi's southern side, some clutching children as they ran and others heading to towns at the base in trucks or cars.

Another 12,000 people fled their villages in Magelang district on the west side. Farmers carrying piles of grass on their head ran down the mountain, as others clambered on to motorcycles.

"We saw the hot cloud spilling down the mountain and ran as fast as we could," said Judi Sutrisono, a father of five, adding that ash had covered rooftops in Jrakah, a village four miles from the crater. Sutrisono was among hundreds of people seeking refuge in a makeshift camp set up in a field dotted with Red Cross tents. As he spoke, a truck carrying 30 men, women and children arrived. Roads leading to the mountain peak had been closed, said Sunarto, another government official.

Authorities had earlier urged residents to evacuate the danger zone on the mountain's fertile slopes. Some 20,000 people left, but thousands more stayed behind, some complaining of boredom at shelters set up in schools, mosques and at government offices.

Merapi's last deadly eruption was in 1994, when it sent out a searing gas cloud that burned 60 people to death. About 1,300 people were killed when it erupted in 1930.

Authorities said that another big, deadly eruption would severely strain ongoing earthquake relief operations in nearby Bantul and Klaten districts. More than half a million people were displaced in last month's tremor, many living in makeshift shelters with no toilets or running water.

Hundreds of local and international relief workers poured into the region to help, providing food, tents and medical supplies to survivors.

"If there's a large blast at Merapi that causes deaths and injuries, we'll need help from paramedics now deployed in the quake-zone - especially with severe burns," said Imam Purwadi, a government official who is overseeing relief efforts at both sites. People displaced by the quake and volcano would also need nutritional supplements, he said, adding that local authorities had not yet come up with a plan to deal with simultaneous crises.

Indonesia is located in the so-called Pacific "ring of fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The Bulusan volcano in the central Philippines was spewing ash and hot steam into the air late yesterday, prompting scientists to raise the alert level in fear of a bigger eruption.

In southern Japan, Mt Sakurajima was also volatile, spitting a plume of smoke about 1,000 metres into the air. There were no reports of damage or injuries in those other volcanic eruptions.