The sizeable object landed in the Pilbara desert, Australia, over the weekend as one space boffin said this type of debris is so common that they’ve earned the nickname ‘space balls’
Miners in the Australian Outback had the shock of their lives over the weekend when a flaming ball of space junk came crashing down near a remote iron ore site.
The bizarre space object – described as a “space ball” – plummeted to Earth around 2pm Saturday near Newman in Western Australia’s scorching Pilbara desert. All signs are pointing to it being a rogue Chinese rocket.
Naturally, alarm bells were sent ringing across police and aviation agencies. Experts reckon that the wreckage could be part of a Chinese rocket dubbed “Jielong”, which blasted off into the cosmos back in September.
Since then, this metal menace has been hurtling around Earth before finally falling from the sky like something out of a blockbuster movie.
Space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman says it’s likely one of the many fuel tanks dumped during space flights to lighten the load. And according to her, these things are everywhere.
“They’re so common, they’ve even got a nickname – space balls,” she told ABC Radio Perth.
“Usually, people find them years later. This one’s unusual because it was found so quickly!”
While the mystery metal lump may look harmless, the truth is it came crashing back during what’s called an “uncontrolled re-entry” – meaning it was was anyone’s guess where or when it would return to Earth, reports the MailOnline.
And it’s not just space boffins who are worried. Even the airline Qantas is raising red flags, claiming they’re not getting enough warning about flying debris from above.
“This is the world we’re starting to live in,” Dr Gorman warned. “We have to look to the skies and be conscious of what’s above us.”
Western Australia Police swooped on the scene and quickly confirmed it didn’t come from a commercial aircraft and is likely part of a rocket, either a tank or a pressurised container.
Earlier this month in a separate incident, a woman was left stunned after a huge piece of space junk landed in her back garden in Texas.
Ann Walter found a boxy piece of scientific equipment about the size of a SUV car and attached to a massive parachute – adorned with NASA stickers.
“It’s crazy, because when you’re standing on the ground and see something in the air, you don’t realise how big it is. It was probably a 30-foot parachute. It was huge,” she said.
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