‘It lit up like a torch’: Three Springs woman Jenny Smith snaps meteorite

AS a lone photographer out in the middle of the night in a deserted Mid-West town, you can imagine how Jenny Smith felt seeing the sky “light up like a torch” last night.

Yet, the initial fear soon gave way for the thrill of knowing she was witnessing a shooting star, as if especially for her, and had snapped the evidence as proof.

The hobby photographer had driven to a picturesque spot of Three Springs bushland to try and capture a starry night sky to enter into a photography competition when the sky illuminated about 11.45pm.

“It scared the life out of me,” she said.

“It was incredibly bright, I actually thought someone was shining a torch over me.”

The Three Springs woman described an orange and blue light which streaked across the sky for about 30 seconds before leaving what appeared to be a trail of smoke.

“I was out on my own and it made me jump but then I just looked up and it was such a rush being able to see it,” Ms Smith said.

She believed she had been the only person to have witnessed the phenomenon until she heard from a friend who had been working a night shift in Eneabba who also claimed to have spotted it.

Ms Smith said her experience showed how the clear skies of regional WA were perfect vantage points for lunar events, including the recent blood moon.

Residents are behind an “AstroTourism” push to get more tourists to visit regional WA to view the night sky.