One Tenterfield observer said it was an “incredible” experience to watch on as the object flew over our skies around 10pm.

“At first I thought it was a big low flying jet,” Kim Plowman said.

“It looked like it had two tails and the speed appeared pretty slow.”

Mr Plowman was one of millions who witnessed what was later confirmed as space junk from a Russian rocket.

NASA issued an alert on Thursday saying a seven-metre, three-tonne, cylindrical object would plunge to Earth over Victoria and Tasmania.

The object was the "third-stage" of the Soyuz rocket used on July 8 to launch Russia’s second Meteor-M weather satellite, quashing beliefs it was a meteorite.

“I tried to get the camera going to capture it but it wouldn’t work,” Mr Plowman said.

Looking on from Gunyah Rd, Mr Plowman said he watched on as it passed down the Mole River.

“I could see right out over the escarpment – it was a privilege to sit and see it.

“It didn’t take long for it to burn up – it just sort of petered out and disintegrated,” he said.

Dr Nick Lomb, curator of astronomy at Sydney Observatory said because it was travelling slower than the escape velocity from Earth, which is 11.2km/sec or 40,000km/hour, he knew it was only space junk.

He said the bright object most likely plunged into the ocean north of Brisbane, since it was travelling in a north-north-east direction.