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A couple of weeks ago, theories abounded after a mysterious giant metal cylinder appeared floating in the water near the shore in Western Australia about 155 miles north of Perth.
The object, about six-and-a-half feet tall with several cables and wires emerging from the top of it, was being guarded by law enforcement as numerous people in the region flocked to the area to see what it was.
“It was a great social evening,” area resident Garth Griffiths said. “It was a lovely, still night. The kids were digging sand castles around it.”
Despite the Western Australia Police Force asking people to not draw conclusions about the origins of the cylinder, that, of course, is exactly what many people did.
Some people thought it might be a piece of long-lost Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
Others, naturally, believed it could be part of a UFO that had perhaps crashed into the ocean. (UFO bases are often located under water, in case you didn’t know. There, and in volcanoes, because it is more difficult to find them in those locations.)
Australia’s space agency (yes, they have one) also chimed in with the theory that the mysterious cylinder could have been debris from a “foreign space launch vehicle.”
Now, after two weeks of investigating, the Australian Space Agency claims it has identified the strange cylinder that was discovered on Green Head Beach.
“We have concluded the object located on a beach near Jurien Bay in Western Australia is most likely debris from an expended third-stage of a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV),” the Australian Space Agency tweeted.
“The PSLV is a medium-lift launch vehicle operated by @isro [Indian Space Research Organization].”
In a follow-up tweet, the agency wrote, “The debris remains in storage and the Australian Space Agency is working with ISRO, who will provide further confirmation to determine next steps, including considering obligations under the United Nations space treaties.”
A 1968 United Nations agreement, according to the New York Times, requires countries to return recovered space junk to the country where it came from.
So, in conclusion, it wasn’t part of a UFO. Unless, of course, the Australian government is also involved in some sort of cover-up.