At about 1.30am on Wednesday, Tamworth locals were given the rudest of awakenings when an explosion rattled windows and shook foundations.

Shocked residents suspected foul play and waited for the emergency services sirens that never came.

Then a surprising statement from local police: "[It] is believed the explosion can be attributed to [an] unknown falling object, possibly a meteorite."

Astronomers confirmed it:  the explosion was a sonic boom caused by a fireball meteor.

Every year between July and August, the Earth passes through debris of ice and dust- known as the Perseid cloud - a "river of rubble" that have crumbled off the Swift Tuttle Comet.

Amid the dust of the meteor cloud a fireball is a large chunk of rock and ice that punches through the Earth's atmosphere.

"Perseid is known for its fireballs," said Andrew Smith, an astronomy guide at the Sydney Observatory.

"They cause an incredibly bright, white flare as it hits the Earth's atmosphere at many times the speed of sound.

"It can look like shooting stars travelling quite quickly and steadily across the sky," he said.

Tamworth taxi driver Ryan Newberry said he witnessed a "shooting star" while driving in the South Tamworth area.

"The main part of what I saw was white/gold with a green tail and the bits falling off the tail were orange," he said.

A fireball's sonic boom might not hit for several minutes after the initial bright white flash, catching those on the ground unawares.

A massive perseid meteor wreaked havoc in the Russian region Chelyabinsk in February 2013.

The initial bright flash as the meteor exploded in the Earth's atmosphere was captured by several dashboard cameras.

The sonic boom - almost three minutes later - smashed windows, shook buildings and sent terrified locals running for cover and first aid.

"That was an unusually big one," Mr Smith said.

This year's perseid was not so menacing, he said. But the best is yet to come.

Prime time viewing for the meteor shower will be between 3am and 5am Thursday and Friday, according to the Sydney Observatory.

However Sydneysiders will likely miss out.

"There won't be much visible from Sydney, but people in the north of Australia will be able to see it fairly well," he said.

For folks in the northern hemisphere viewing conditions are expected to be excellent, weather permitting, as the shower coincides with a new moon for the first time since 2007.

As many as 100 meteors could be seen every hour in the UK as they shoot through the sky from their 'radiant' in the Perseus constellation.

For a similarly spectacular show, Sydneysiders will have to wait for the the Geminid meteor shower in December, Mr Smith said.

with Brisbane Times