Mysterious metal spheres washed ashore on a northern Australia beach, and officials say the unidentified floating objects are literal space balls — although there’s no known affiliation with the Mel Brooks comedy classic “Spaceballs.”
Several of the metallic objects were discovered on Forrest Beach, a small, quiet coastal town in Queensland, the Australian Space Agency announced Sunday on X.
The unknown objects were later identified as “space debris” by the ASA, most likely from a rocket that recently re-entered Earth’s atmosphere from orbit.
“The recovered objects appear to be pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle,” the agency said on X.
Queensland Fire and Rescue said on X its crews closed off part of the beach to help partner agencies like the ASA inspect and recover the objects, which were determined to be safe.
Though unusual, space debris crashing into Earth is not uncommon.
It can be a result of a variety of space objects re-entering Earth, the ASA said on its official site, including satellites or space vehicles that do not completely burn up as they pass through the atmosphere.
This is the third encounter Australia has had with space debris in the last five years, the ASA said. The most recent was a large pressure vessel that washed up in Western Australia in 2023.
Most returning space objects have a planned re-entering site, usually in remote areas or the ocean, according to the agency. Some objects, however, survive uncontrolled re-entry, making it more difficult to predict where debris will land.
The Australian government has plans in place for incidents where space debris may impact the country.
While debris that survives re-entry is most likely to land in these planned remote locations, the initial discovery of space debris on Australian territory is often made by members of the public, the ASA said.
The agency is continuing to work with international authorities to formally confirm which country and launch vehicle the debris originated from and is urging people to stay away from further space balls.
“Never touch, move or recover suspected space debris and assume it to be hazardous until advised otherwise. Move away and contact emergency services,” the ASA said on X.
