Mystery dome washes up on beach and no one can work out what it is
A strange ‘dome’ discovered on a remote beach in Australia could be space junk from a foreign rocket, officials believe.
The cylindrical object, about the size of a small car, washed up at Green Head, about 155 miles north of Perth, before being discovered late on Sunday.
It was cordoned off by police, with the Australian Space Agency now saying it is working with foreign counterparts to identify the object, which appears to be partly made of a woven material.
‘The object could be from a foreign space launch vehicle and we are liaising with global counterparts who may be able to provide more information,’ the agency tweeted.
European Space Agency engineer Andrea Boyd said her colleagues believe the item, which came from the Indian Ocean, fell from an Indian rocket while it launched a satellite.
Whoever launched the object into space will be responsible for its disposal.
She told Australian Broadcasting Corp: ‘We’re pretty sure, based on the shape and the size, it is an upper-stage engine from an Indian rocket that’s used for a lot of different missions.
‘There is a United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and they have an outer space treaty that everyone has signed saying that whoever launches something into space is responsible for it right until the very end.’
Western Australia Police said in a statement on Monday that a government chemical analysis had determined the object was safe and ‘there is no current risk to the community’.
Authorities had earlier treated the device as hazardous and urged the public to stay away.
Police said the device will be removed following formal identification of its origin.
‘Police will maintain security of the object until it is removed and members of the public are requested to stay away from the location,’ the statement said.
Last year, the discovery of a mysterious orb in Japan also left officials baffled.
Some suggested it could be ‘Godzilla’s egg’ while others mused it could be a new form of ‘spy balloon.’
Experts said the big ball was similar to a steel buoy made by Chinese shipbuilding company Nantong Yangfan.
It is used to guide mariners or mark positions in the ocean.
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