Mysterious giant metal cylinder washes up on Australian beach

globalnews.ca:

Everyone loves a good mystery, so when a huge, unidentified metal object washed up on a Western Australian beach, locals and internet sleuths alike couldn’t contain their curiosity.

Residents near Green Head beach reported the massive copper-coloured cylinder to police on Sunday. The object, which is still on the beach, was discovered visibly damaged and appears to be partially covered by barnacles.

According to the BBC, the object is roughly 2.5 metres wide and over 2.5 metres long.

Western Australian police initially asked locals to keep their distance from the object in case it was hazardous. On Monday evening, authorities said a chemical analysis of the cylinder “determined the object is safe and there is no current risk to the community.”

The investigation into the cylinder’s origin is ongoing, though police have said the object is likely not from a commercial aircraft.

The Australian Space Agency said the object “could be from a foreign space launch vehicle,” as many eagle-eyed internet sleuths had already hypothesized.

We are currently making enquiries related to this object located on a beach near Jurien Bay in Western Australia.

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.

[More in comments] pic.twitter.com/41cRuhwzZk

— Australian Space Agency (@AusSpaceAgency) <a href=«https://twitter.com/AusSpaceAgency/status/1680832020937846785?ref_src=» https:>July 17, 2023

Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told the BBC the cylinder is possibly a detached portion of an Indian space rocket launched in the last 12 months. Thomas suggested the object may be a fuel tank. Many on social media have made the same suggestion, proposing