A strange, smouldering object has sparked a multi-agency investigation in the remote Australian Outback after it was discovered on fire near a mining site in Western Australia.
Found at around 2:00PM on Saturday (October 18), the object was located roughly 30km from the small town of Newman in the Pilbara region.
Mining staff stumbled upon the burning item on a rarely used access road and immediately contacted emergency services. Authorities quickly cordoned off the area, launching a coordinated response involving multiple government agencies.
Officials believe object fell from space
Early assessments suggest the object is made of carbon fibre and may be a composite-overwrapped pressure vessel or rocket tank, indicating it could be a component from a space launch, per the Daily Mail.
While speculation swirls, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has already ruled out any connection to commercial aircraft.
"In consultation with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the object has been ruled out as originating from a commercial aircraft," WA Police said in a statement.
Images shared by WA Police show the dome-shaped object glowing red-hot in the red desert sand before cooling into a charred, blackened husk.
The lack of ground impact marks has only deepened the mystery surrounding how it arrived there.
WA Police added: "Further technical assessment will be undertaken by engineers from the Australian Space Agency to assist in identifying its nature and source."
No danger to public as object secured
With the object now safely in the hands of authorities, WA Police confirmed the item poses no current threat to the public.
"The object has been secured, and there is no current threat to public safety," police stated.
The investigation is being led by WA Police as the state’s designated Hazard Management Agency for space debris re-entry.
They are working closely with the Australian Space Agency, Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), and the mine’s operator to determine where the object originated from.
Social media buzzes with UFO jokes and speculation
Although officials suspect the object is space debris, the public hasn’t missed a chance to weigh in with more imaginative theories.
One Facebook user quipped: "I am not saying it's aliens, but..."
Another joked: "Might need to invest in a tin foil hat."
A third chimed in with a more grounded theory: "There's so much space junk floating around you wouldn't know who's it is, this could have been floating in space for years before dropping to earth, this must have been big piece usually they burn up coming into the atmosphere."
Not the first time space junk has landed in WA
This isn’t the first time mysterious space debris has appeared in Western Australia.
In 2023, a 2.5-metre-high cylinder, partly made of a gold-coloured woven material, washed up near Green Head, around 1,000km southwest of Newman.
That object was later believed to be from an Indian launch vehicle, according to the Australian Space Agency.
In 2022, Australians across the southern coast also witnessed a fireball streaking across the sky - an event tied to the re-entry of a Russian satellite component from the EKS early-warning satellite network.
Perth Observatory expert Matt Woods explained to 9 News that the survival of such debris upon re-entry is often intentional or the result of tumbling mechanics.
"It is on purpose that this bit of rocket body has landed back, but it could just be the way that it's been tumbling that this piece was able to survive," Woods said.
The mystery object discovered near Newman remains under investigation, with authorities awaiting further technical analysis to confirm its origin.