Police have have confirmed their strong belief that the bizarre-looking, barnacle-covered object that washed up on a beach in Green Head and which has made headlines around the world came from a rocket.
The cylindrical metal item has been under police guard since it was found by locals at the weekend at Green Head, sparking fierce speculation about its origin, including whether it could be from the military, a commercial aircraft or a rocket.
The beach reopened to the public on Tuesday evening after the mystery object was moved by an excavator to an undisclosed location, where investigations will continue.
During the probe, the Australian Space Agency was called in after it was confirmed it was “believed the item is space debris”.
On Wednesday, an ASA spokeswoman said it had been determined the object was “most likely a solid rocket motor casing”.
“We’re continuing the process of identifying the type of rocket and its origin through ongoing engagement with our global counterparts,” a statement said.
WA Police Inspector Geoff DeSanges also confirmed that police believed the debris had originated from a rocket.
“At present, we are treating the object as debris from a discarded rocket, likely part of the separation phase of a rocket,” he said.
“There are very strong indicators to support this belief but until we can absolutely confirm the origins of this object, we cannot be certain.
“This work is being undertaken by a number of federal agencies, in collaboration with WA Police and this work may require some time to complete.”
Insp. DeSanges said the object was now “safely secured” at a secret location.
He said federal agencies would now take the lead in further analysing the object, where exactly it came from and what was done with it.
“It may in fact remain here (in WA), there are a number of options on the table but none of which can be decided upon until we know what it is and where it is from,” he added.
Several major international news outlets have published articles on the mystery object, including the New York Times.
Premier Roger Cook on Tuesday said if the object was found to be space debris it could find a place in the WA Museum with the wreckage of Skylab, that fell back to Earth and was found scattered around Balladonia in 1979.
“It might add to our growing collection of space debris we seem to be collecting in WA,” he said.