Mystery as ‘hairy’ object plunges from the sky and lands on farm leaving boffins stumped

The huge hairy object left locals baffled after it crashed to earth from space and landed on a farm in northern Argentina, measuring 5’6″ in length and covered in bizarre black fibres

A mysterious hairy object has left officials baffled after it crashed to earth from space and landed on a farm. The massive carbon fibre cylinder measured around 5ft 6ins (1.7m) in length and 3ft 9ins feet (1.2m) in diameter.

It had a 40cm hole at one end, a valve system at the other and also had an inscription with a serial number. The cylinder was covered in strange black fibres that looked like hair, prompting one social media wag to joke it “looks like a giant wig.”

Locals in Puerto Tirol in northern Argentina have been stumped since it plunged from the sky at around 6.30pm last Thursday, September 25.

Landowner Ramón Ricardo González, 47, raised the alarm after finding it embedded in the soil on his farm. Police and fire crews attended the scene and bomb experts inspected the cylinder to make sure it wasn’t explosive.

They confirmed the object did not contain any combustible or hazardous materials, but officials were stumped as to what it could be. As a result, they set up a 100-foot security perimeter around the furry object while they continue to investigate its origin.

They did not rule out the possibility that it could be space junk, possibly from a recent SpaceX mission, such as a rocket fuel tank capsule.

One online stargazer suggested it could be a Composite overwrapped pressure vessel from a space ship, joking: “No danger to anyone. Except if it landed on you.”

Another social media user said: “This will happen more and more lately now that we are entering the space age.”

As the space industry grows, it is predicted incidents of space debris landing on earth will become more frequent as companies such as SpaceX and Amazon send more satellites into orbit, making the space around the planet even more crowded.

In January, a huge metal ring fell from space and landed in a Kenyan village with a loud bang, startling locals. And boffins fear the lack of control over these materials threatens soil communities and also future space missions.

The Chaco region, where the latest suspected space junk was found, was the site of Campo del Cielo, a cosmic phenomenon which saw metallic meteorites fall from the sky around 4,000 years ago.

There were some of the largest iron masses ever recorded, including a meteorite of more than 30 tons discovered in 2016.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here .