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© Ognen Teofilovski/ReutersA meteor streaks across the sky during the Perseid meteor shower at a windmill farm near Bogdanci, south of Skopje, in the early morning August 13, 2014. Astronomer Ken Tapping said it's rare to have advance warnings of meteors entering specific regions.
"It's entirely consistent with it being a large fireball," said Ken Tapping, a National Research Council of Canada astronomer.
Residents who experienced the event said it sounded like the object was just outside their homes.
"It was like when a shotgun goes off and you're right beside it," said Donna Taylor of Charlie Lake, a small community northwest of Fort St. John, who was in her home when she heard the noise around 11 pm Wednesday night.
"I thought somebody threw something against my place or ran into it, because all the windows shook."
Jessica Krupp was in bed when the noise woke her up. "It sounded like a fuse blew or something electrical kind of snapped or crackled," she said. "Like an explosion almost.I thought a truck blew up or something."
© American Meteor Society Map
The American Meteor Society says the likely path of the meteor was southeast of Long Island over the Atlantic Ocean.
"The AMS has received over 130 reports so far about of a daytime fireball event seen above New York State on October 18, 2017 around 3 p.m.," it said.
"The fireball was seen primarily from New York and New Jersey, but was also seen from Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Hampshire."
© Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka
Speaking to the Daily Mirror he said the explosion was known as a 'fireball explosion' and occurs after an asteroid enters the earth's atmosphere.
"The asteroid could be a size of 50 centimetres. Every asteroid enters the earth's photosphere at a speed of 65 kilometers per second. With that speed one side of the asteroid gets heated up due to friction and the other side does not, therefore causing an explosion," Prof Jayaratne said.
Video taken by a local resident at the site shows a large area of burnt trees and a deep hole in the ground (pictured)
Beginning with the latter theory, a single FA-18 Hornet was heard flying loudly over Cairns on Sunday night, with a Department of Defence spokesman confirming it landed at Cairns Airport while carrying out a training exercise from RAAF Base Townsville.
But no jets were operating late on Saturday night when a god-almighty "explosion" was heard across the city.
As for the gas bottle theory — the most popular on social media — emergency services had no report of any such activity despite speculation it was the product of juvenile delinquents running rampant at Jensen St in Manoora.
The Cairns Post was called by an anonymous man trying to sell CCTV footage he swore showed a jolt of light shooting up a power pole and causing the ensuing aftershock.
Ergon Energy had no record of any issues.
© ASAS-SN/Twitter
In July, astronomers discovered a brand new comet zooming through the inner regions of our space bubble. Since that time it's been steadily getting brighter, and now is about the best time to finally catch a glimpse of it in the night sky.
The comet C/2017 O1 ASAS-SN was first detected on 19 July by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae, the same system that brought us new discoveries about the mysterious Tabby's star, massive space explosions, and stars shredded by black holes.
Now, for the first time, the survey has discovered a comet which Northern Hemisphere stargazers can readily spot in the sky with the help of a backyard telescope or even just binoculars.
Comet O1 ASAS-SN is a long-period comet, and it probably takes at least several thousand years to cruise around the Sun and come back - so being able to spot it right now is a wonderful treat.
© Tioga Gulon, Boam Meteore, AstroChinonBolide captured over western France on October 5, 2017.
The bolide, which was as bright as the full moon, was recorded by REFORME's all-sky camera..
© Melanie Casselman
"I looked at my house and my windows, and everything looked fine, so I just walked right on by," Casselman said. "I didn't even pick it up."
The next day, Casselman's partner, Dennis Suszko, found a strange piece of rock in the front yard, and she remembered seeing a similar rock in the side yard.
"These were odd-looking rocks," Casselman said. "It wasn't like anything around it, and I jokingly said, 'We must've had a meteor shower last night.'"
As they looked for more pieces of rock, they noticed a chunk of shingles missing from the eaves of their roof.
"We're not positive, but we believe that's where the meteorite first struck before landing in the yard," Casselman said.
© Notch HostelThis photo from Tuesday night, Oct. 3, 2017, shows the fire burning on the Dilly Cliffs near Woodstock.
The fire has been burning for more than 24 hours near Lost River Gorge in Woodstock.
The fire was first reported about 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Woodstock's fire chief said the night before, a man said he was driving in the area when he spotted a meteor streaking across the sky.
Officials are not sure if the meteor, which is referred to as a meteorite if it reaches the ground and survives the impact, caused the fire. They said they have found no evidence of a meteorite, but they said it is considered a possible cause.
© Jack Varin/Real World New HampshireThe blaze near Lost River Gorge seen overnight.
Crews were working to contain the fire in the Lost River Gorge area Wednesday, and said that it was still spreading. A driver first called it in around 6:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Mackay told WBZ-TV a man walking through the area Wednesday told them he saw something - possibly a meteor - hit the side of the mountain while he was driving by the night before.
"He swears that something come out of the sky and hit the side of the mountain where the fire is," Chief Mackay said. "We can't confirm it or deny it, we just took his word. We don't know if that is the cause."
Comment: See also: Did a meteorite cause a brush fire in New Hampshire?