Experts warn public after ‘hazardous’ spacecraft washes up on beach

It was a UFO (unidentified floating object).

Australian authorities have issued a warning beach-goers to steer clear of a “hazardous” piece of cylindrical flotsam that could’ve been part of a foreign space craft. The bizarro object’s arrival was detailed in a series of tweets by the Australian Space Agency Monday.

“As the origin of the object is unknown, the community should avoid handling or attempting to move the object,” a spokesperson for the agency said of of the mysterious canister, which was discovered Sunday night in Jurien Bay in Western Australia.

A couple of area residents had found the object bobbing in the shallows and “dragged it out with their four-wheel drive,” local resident Garth Griffiths told abc.net.au.

Griffiths estimated that “semi-cylindrical object” measured over 8 feet across and nearly 10 feet long and was comprised of a “light carbon fibre material like lightweight resin.”

Accompanying photos show the giant cylinder, which is bronze-colored and covered with barnacles like a colossal beer can or remnant of some Alien civilization stuck out of time.

Locals have since reported the “Planet Of The Apes”-evoking jetsam to authorities, who launched an investigation in conjunction with the military and ASA to discover its origins.

While the object’s provenance remains unclear, the agency claims that it “could be from a foreign space launch vehicle.”

“We are liaising with global counterparts who may be able to provide more information,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, some space experts suspect that the canister could be the fuel tank of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket, which was last launched on April 22, 2023, the Independent reported.

During the investigation, Western Australian police reportedly guarded the mystery item for most of the day in an effort to keep both the object and beachcombers safe.

“WA Police will maintain security of the object until it is removed and members of the public are requested to stay away from the location,” they said in a statement.

Thankfully, by Monday night, authorities had determined the cylinder was safe and posed no threat to the public.

Social media had their own theories about the objects origins.

“That tank cap looks like north korea handy work,” posited one tinfoil hatter on Twitter.

Another wrote, “Aboriginal artifact from 20,000 years ago.”

“Looks like a giant bamboo steamer,” quipped a third.

“Aliens have landed in Australia,” joked one Twitter wit.

This isn’t the first flotsam that had Twitter’s tin foil hatters in a tizzy.

In February, a mysterious sphere that washed ashore in Japan was labelled a “Godzilla egg” by social media watchdogs — with some conspiracy theorists claiming that the so-called King of the Monsters‘ offspring is “multiplying.”