SYDNEY, July 18, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A bulky barnacle-encrusted cylinder has
baffled authorities since washing up on an Australian beach, with the
country's space agency suggesting Tuesday it could be debris from a foreign
rocket launch.

The object, which measures some two metres (six feet) high with cables
dangling from the top, was recently spotted near remote Jurien Bay, a coastal
region two hours' drive north of state capital Perth.

Police -- who cordoned off the canister while it was tested for toxic
material -- have shut down online speculation that it could be linked to the
2014 disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

"At this early stage it appears the object did not originate from a
commercial aircraft," police said in a statement.

The Australian Space Agency said it was investigating whether the canister
may be part of a "foreign space launch vehicle that has washed up on shore".

"As the origin of the object is unknown, the community should avoid handling
or attempting to move the object," the agency said in a statement.

A charred chunk of debris from one of Elon Musk's SpaceX missions was
discovered jutting out of a paddock by an Australian sheep farmer last year.

"It was kind of exciting and weird all in the same way," astrophysicist Brad
Tucker told AFP at the time, after inspecting the SpaceX debris.