Staff at the nearby mine found the burning object, made of metal and carbon fiber, near a remote access road. They came across the object around 2 p.m. local time and called emergency services.
The piece of debris is likely part of a Chinese rocket launched in September, says Alice Gorman, a space archaeologist and university lecturer at Flinders University. “It appears to be the fourth stage of a Jielong rocket. If it is, that means it orbited the Earth for a while and then came out of nowhere,” Gorman told The Guardian.
© Western Australia Police Force
The local police have started an investigation into the piece of rubble. “While its characteristics are consistent with known debris returning to space, further technical assessments will be conducted by Australian Space Agency engineers to assist in identifying its nature and source,” a spokesperson said.