Was it a meteor shower? 'Flying' light, 'twinkly banana' in the night sky has Capetonians stumped

• Capetonians have reported seeing an apparent meteor shower on Thursday night.
• The event could not be confirmed by the South African Astronomical Observatory.
• However, the observatory said it had received three reports of unusual activity in the night sky.

Capetonians have been left stumped by a string of lights in the night sky.

Social media users reported seeing what may have been a meteor shower on Thursday night, but the South African Astronomical Observatory could not confirm what lit up the night sky.

Some Capetonians reported seeing a "flying" light from the southern suburbs, and one Table View resident described the lights as a "twinkly banana".

"I was bringing my washing in and [saw what] looked like a twinkly banana. I just thought my eyes were tired," the resident said.

Another person said she thought she "was going crazy" when she spotted the lights from Rondebosch.

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Dr Daniel Cunnama, science engagement astronomer at the South African Astronomical Observatory, said the observatory had received reports of something resembling a meteor shower - one at around 22:00 on Thursday and two more from around 07:00 on Friday.

However, it wasn't able to confirm the reports and had not received any visuals, Cunnama said.

The observatory added that the two meteor showers expected in June had already passed.

The theta-Ophiuchids meteor shower was observed between Thursday, 8 June and Friday, 16 June, peaking on Tuesday, 13 June, between the constellations of Sagittarius, Scorpius and Ophiuchus.

The June Lyrids shower was active from Monday, 11 June to Wednesday, 21 June, peaking on Friday, 16 June, and could be viewed best in the early hours of the morning low on the northern skyline, appearing to come from the general direction of the constellation Lyra.