A giant metal cylinder has washed up on a beach in Western Australia, baffling locals and posing a mystery to police.
The huge copper-coloured cylinder was reported to police by local residents on Sunday, having washed up on a beach near Jurien Bay sometime earlier.
The cylinder looks to be substantially damaged and was found leaning on its side.
A giant mysterious metal cylinder has left locals stumped after the debris appeared suddenly on the shoreline of WA's Midwest.
— 10 News First Perth (@10NewsFirstPER) July 17, 2023
The huge metal object was found on a beach near Green Head on Sunday, with local residents reporting the suspicious item to police.
The item is… pic.twitter.com/XzUhAGznna
WA police confirmed that they did not believe the object originated from a commercial aircraft but were unsure what it was and were treating it as hazardous.
However, in a statement on Monday night, police said analysis of the object by the state’s fire department’s chemistry centre had “determined the object is safe and there is no current risk to the community”.
They added that it would be removed “following formal identification of the item and its origin”.
Police were coordinating a joint investigation into its origins, and asked the public to stay away from the object.
“This measure has been taken to ensure the preservation of potential evidence and facilitate further expert examination.”
The huge cylinder looks partly damaged in videos posted to social media, and does not look like anything from a regular aircraft.
It appears to have detached from something, with the bottom half looking like it was ripped from its origin.
Police immediately dismissed the idea it had come from the vanished flight MH370, which disappeared on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.
A spokesperson for the Australian Space Agency said it was making enquiries related to the object.
“The agency is working to confirm whether the object could be part of a foreign space launch vehicle that has washed up on shore, and liaising with global counterparts who may be able to provide information about the object.
“As the origin of the object is unknown, the community should avoid handling or attempting to move the object.”
Dr Alice Gorman, an expert in the field of space archaeology, said she believes the object is a fuel cylinder that came from the the third stage of India’s polar satellite launch vehicle rocket, as many have suggested on social media.
“It’s surprising because it’s such a large fragment,” she said. “And it makes you wonder what was going on at the time, if maybe a marine weather event dislodged it and brought it ashore.
“It is very interesting though, and is a way regular everyday people can get close to space, as often these things turn into souvenirs. People like to keep some space junk.”
Gorman said police were right to stop people from attending the site, saying the cylinder likely contained toxic materials.
“A lot of rocket fuel is actually quite toxic, even though this one’s been around for a while, and clearly it hasn’t killed off any of the things growing on it, that precaution is justified – a lot of rocket fuels are not very friendly to living things.”
Gorman said she believes the cylinder likely fell from a launch in the past decade, and that it was likely now full of “dirt and sand”.
She said the next step involves identifying its true source and returning it to its original country of origin, as per the UN’s Outer Space Treaty.
