India: We can't say for sure, the mysterious object on the Australian beach is suspected to be an Indian rocket component. Speculation | Experts | Discovered | Object | Possible | Australia | India | Object
On July 16th, someone discovered a huge metal cylinder on a beach in Western Australia and reported it to the police. Australian experts once speculated that the mysterious object may have come from an Indian polar satellite carrier rocket. The head of the Indian Space Research Organization, Samanas, responded that the component must be part of the rocket, but it may not necessarily come from India.
According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation on the 19th, Somanas told the media that unless the Indian side can analyze the object, it cannot be determined that it belongs to India.
The unidentified object is approximately 2.5 meters wide and between 2.5 and 3 meters in length, and is a cylindrical object. This object has aroused great interest among the residents of Greenhead Beach. Since the discovery of the object on Greenhead Beach, about 250 kilometers north of Perth, its origin has sparked many speculations. Some people even believe that this may be a product of India's launch of a lunar probe on July 14th, but this possibility was quickly ruled out by experts.
Initially, some speculated that it may be the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines MH370 aircraft. On March 8, 2014, this flight with 239 passengers went missing, and the subsequent search work was led by Australia. This speculation was quickly clarified by aviation experts, as such objects could not have come from commercial aircraft.
Experts believe that the object may have been a fuel tank that fell into the Indian Ocean at some stage during rocket launch. The Australian Space Agency has stated that the object may have fallen from a foreign space launch vehicle.
The Indian Space Research Organization often uses polar satellite launch vehicles to launch satellites into space. People speculate that the object found on Greenhead Beach is a PSLV fuel tank, and the recent space activity using PSLV technology was an Indian launch on July 14th, so many speculate that the object comes from India.
However, expert analysis suggests that the discovered object has been soaked in water for several months, and the appearance of the object covered in a large number of barnacles seems to confirm this.
Somanas told BBC that the discovered object was "not mysterious" and was "part of some rockets.". However, regarding the question of whether the object comes from India, he stated that he cannot confirm. Somanas also confirmed that some parts of the PSLV rocket did indeed fall into waters outside Australia's exclusive economic zone, and these fragments were "not in any danger".
The Australian side has not yet released more details, but authorities emphasize that they consider the object to be "dangerous goods" and the police have requested that the public maintain a safe distance from it.
According to the Guardian, Alice Goleman, an expert in Australian space archaeology, stated that it is correct for the police to prevent people from approaching the location where the object was discovered, as it may contain toxic substances. She also believes that the object may have fallen during a launch in the past 10 years. Gorman stated that according to the United Nations Outer Space Treaty, the next step will be to determine the true source of the object and return it to its home country.
