- By Antoinette Radford
- BBC News
The mysterious object washed up in Western Australia, about 250 kilometers north of Perth
Police have stunned a mysterious “unidentified” dome that washed up on a Western Australian beach.
The giant metal object was found by locals at Green Head Beach, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Perth.
State and federal authorities are investigating the item, which is not currently believed to be from a commercial aircraft.
It is being treated as a danger, and the police have asked people to keep a safe distance.
“We want to assure the community that we are actively engaged in a collaborative effort with various state and federal agencies to determine the origin and nature of the object,” the police said in a statement.
The Australian Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that residents of Green Head Beach said the cylinder was 2.5m wide and between 2.5m and 3m long.
The ABC reported that residents visited the site on Saturday night to see the roller, and one local resident described it as “a great social evening”.
“It was a beautiful night, still quiet, the children were digging sand castles about,” he told ABC.
Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas said the item may have been a fuel tank from a missile that fell in the Indian Ocean at some point in the past 12 months.
While there has been some speculation that the cylinder may have been part of MH370 – an aircraft that went missing off the western Australian coast in 2014 with 239 passengers on board – Mr Thomas said there was “no chance”.
“It’s not any part of a Boeing 777 and the fact is that MH370 was lost nine and a half years ago, so it will show more wear and tear on the debris,” he said.
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