A bright object that shot through the Saturday night sky and created a sonic boom strong enough to shake houses has left Queenslanders flummoxed.

A number of local residents in the central and southern parts of the state reported sightings of what appeared to be a large fireball streaking across the sky at about 8.30pm.

Professor Quentin Parker said this occurrence happened once or twice a year. Photo: AAP

Without footage of the incident, experts say it’s difficult to determine precisely what the mysterious object was, but Professor Quentin Parker from the Australian Astronomical Observatory said the available evidence pointed to one particular theory.

“It almost certainly could be a meteoroid,” he told The New Daily.

“If it was a fireball … and if there was a sonic boom associated with it then that likely indicates a small meteorite.”

But, according to Professor Parker, it could also be a satellite returning to Earth.

“It could be a piece of space junk coming down to Earth, but if it’s making a sonic boom it sounds more likely a meteorite,” he said.

Professor Parker said these occurrences are not particularly rare, as meteorites hit Earth all the time.

“These are surprisingly common, they happen once every few years,” he added.

“We have an Earth that’s surface is two-thirds water so a lot of the time no one sees them because it happens over the ocean or over unpopulated regions.

“These things probably happen once or twice a year, bigger ones are rare and the rarity goes up with the size so the bigger the object the rarer the event is.”

Astro Space News editor and publisher Dave Reneke told the ABC the bright light was caused by the meteorite exploding as it entered the atmosphere.

“These are moving at 30 to 60 kilometres a second when they pass through the atmosphere – they get very hot,” Mr Reneke said.

“This could have been the size of a small suitcase, probably not much bigger I’d say.

“They build up pressure and heat inside and they simply explode.”

‘A little orange sun’

Queenslanders flocked to social media to report of seeing and hearing the meteoroid. Photo: NASA

Queensland residents reacted with shock, taking to social media to describe the strange fireball that flew overhead.

“It was pretty crazy, only saw a glimpse of it but it was like a little orange sun,” said Julian Rosario from the Gold Coast.

He said it was over in a second and confirmed earlier reports of a potential sonic boom and the feeling of an earthquake.

“We were just sitting eating and all of a sudden the window started rattling followed by what sounded like a gun shot, it was crazy.”

One particular local captured the flash of light on a home security camera.

Professor Parker also said if part of the meteorite hit Earth it could help detail the size the fireball.

“You’re likely talking about a small meteorite that may or may not have left an impact if it actually came to Earth,” he said.

“Some of them actually just come into the Earth’s atmosphere and skim out again without actually hitting the ground.

“A lot of them just vaporise and burn up in the atmosphere and there’s nothing left.

“Some of them are especially massive and that they lead to an object that hits the ground, it really depends on the angle of incidence into the atmosphere, the size of the object and the speed when it entered the atmosphere.”

Our CCTV at Fisherman's Landing captured the meteor which rattled Central Queensland last night. pic.twitter.com/zyOPcxgIpD

— Transport and Main Roads Queensland (@TMRQld) September 27, 2016