“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.
Since it has turned up on a beach at Green Head, a coastal town 250 kilometers north of Perth, the copper-colored cylinder had drawn in curious local residents eager to catch a glimpse of the unidentified object.
Police were initially cautious, throwing up a cordon around the object and telling locals to keep away. The bulky cylinder, which stands taller than a human, appears to be damaged at one end and is covered with barnacles, suggesting it has spent a significant amount of time at sea before washing up. Alice Gorman, a space archaeologist from Flinders University in Adelaide, said the cylinder is likely the third phase of a polar satellite launch vehicle previously launched by India.“It is identical in dimension and materials,” Gorman told CNN, comparing it with launch vehicles used by India since 2010.
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