A mysterious cylindrical object found by locals on a beach near Jurien Bay in Western Australia on Sunday, July 16, has left people baffled on social media. The giant copper-coloured object has prompted the Australian Space Agency to launch an investigation. The agency predicts that the object could be from a foreign space launch vehicle.
“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,” the Australian Space Agency tweeted.
The object was first reported to authorities by local resident Garth Griffith, who pulled the bulky metallic item out of the waters using his vehicle. He also informed ABC News about the discovery. The metal shell is around 10 feet long and 8 feet wide.
The object could be from an Indian rocket and this has stirred speculations on social media with many linking it to
Chandrayaan-3, which was launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on July 14.
According to Andrea Boyd, an engineer with the European Space Agency, her colleagues believe the item that washed up from the Indian Ocean fell from an Indian rocket while launching a satellite, Al Jazeera reported quoting 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,” Boyd told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The picture of the object that is circulating on the internet has created a divide on social media, with some claiming that the object has no connection to
Chandrayaan-3 as it is thickly covered in algae and goose barnacles, which cannot accumulate in just three to four days. Whereas, other rumours suggest that the object could possibly be the debris of an Indian rocket,
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
Amid all the speculations, the Australian Space Agency is actively working to find out if there is a link between the object and the space launch vehicle. According to the UN Outer Space Treaty, if the origin of the object is confirmed, the Australian government will have to return the space debris to that country.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
