Researchers say a meteor that broke up and lit up the sky over Perth when it hit the atmosphere last night might have fallen to ground somewhat intact.

People in the Avon Valley region believe that they heard the space rock crash and felt the reverberations of its impact. 

"We heard the boom, we saw the light, we just thought it was lightning to start with, but the boom that came after it was definitely not thunder," Robyn Garratt, from the town of York located 100 kilometers east of Perth.  "We heard the boom, we saw the light, we just thought it was lightning to start with, but the boom that came after it was definitely not thunder.

"It shook the whole house, the windows, the dog went psycho," she added, "In York, people felt a lot more than that. They all went running outside thinking the sky was falling, basically."

Scientists from Curtin University are now determining where the meteor came down.

"Meteorites are a great scientific resource in terms of working out how the solar system formed and how it evolved," said Professor Phil Bland of the Desert Fireball Network.  "When we actually have that context and we're able to say 'this comes from the outer solar system' or 'this comes from near Mars' that's so useful.   So when we find one it's an incredible experience and just putting your hands on that is a fantastic moment."

People also observed meteors in the skies above Melbourne and Sydney earlier this month.