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Australia investigates mysterious space balls that washed up on beach

2026-07-05 18:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Authorities in Australia are investigating the origin of mysterious large spheres that washed up on a beach in north Queensland this weekend.

The six solid objects discovered at Forrest Beach, north of Townsville, are thought to be space debris and the Australian Space Agency (ASA) is now trying to determine where they came from. The BBC has approached the agency for comment.

Teams in protective suits were reportedly seen placing the spheres in barrels of hazardous substances under police protection, due to concerns that they may contain dangerous substances.

The Queensland Fire Department said on Sunday that a 50-metre exclusion zone remained in place, urging anyone who finds a suspicious object in the area not to touch it.

It says members of the public who encounter them should leave immediately and call emergency services.

There has been some speculation online that the spheres are propellant tanks for spacecraft and thus may contain residual amounts of a highly flammable or reactive substance.

However, it is not the first time that such mysterious objects have been spotted off the coast of Australia.

In 2023, India confirmed that a giant metal dome that washed up on a Western Australian beach near Perth was from one of its missiles.

A spokesperson for India's space agency later told the BBC that it was from one of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

A spherical object similar to those discovered this weekend was also found in remote grasslands in Namibia, southern Africa, in 2011.

Experts at the time said they believed it was most likely a fuel tank or a bladder tank containing hydrazine - a highly unstable propellant - from an unmanned rocket./CNA, translated by BBC