For older time periods such as the 1950s - where trove does index the newspapers — it’s very easy to find reports of meteors and bright lights — https://trove.

For older time periods such as the 1950s - where trove does index the newspapers — it’s very easy to find reports of meteors and bright lights — https://trove.nla.gov.au/search/advanced/category/newspapers?date.from=1950-01-01&date.to=1987-12-31&keyword.phrase=Bright%20light&keyword.not=Racing&keyword=Meteor https://trove.nla.gov.au/search/advanced/category/newspapers...