What are the mysterious 'space balls' found washed up on an Australian beach?

Six large, solid balls that washed up on on a beach in Australia are probably pieces of a rocket that fell back to Earth from space, according to officials.

The objects were found over the weekend on Forrest Beach in Queensland, which is on the north-east coast of the country.

At first, it was not clear what they were, but the Australian Space Agency - called ASA - said it had "identified the likely source" of the objects.

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On Monday, the ASA said the balls "appear to be pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle".

A space launch vehicle is a rocket used to carry things such as satellites into space.

A pressure vessel is a strong container that holds gas or liquid under pressure. These containers are built to be very tough, which may be why they survived falling back through the Earth's atmosphere.

The atmosphere is the layer of gases around Earth. When an object falls back from space, it travels extremely fast. As it pushes through the air, the gas in front of it gets squeezed very tightly. This makes the air around the object become extremely hot. The outside of the object can also heat up and begin to break apart.

Many pieces of space debris burn up before they ever reach the ground. But some parts, can survive the journey and often land in the sea.

The ASA said "the objects' location and characteristics are consistent with debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere from orbit".

This means the agency thinks the objects may have come from a rocket launched by another country.

Emergency services have warned people not to touch the objects. Queensland's fire department put up a 50-metre exclusion zone - keeping people away from the area.

There were concerns that the objects might contain hazardous substances and chemicals.

Local people were surprised by the discovery. Lisa Scobie, who owns Forrest Beach Takeaway, told Australian broadcaster ABC: "It's very quiet, not a lot happens here. So having a lot of extra activity... that definitely created a little bit of excitement."

This is not the first time suspected space debris has been found in Australia. In 2023, India confirmed that a giant metal dome found on a beach in Western Australia came from one of its rockets.

The ASA is now working with international authorities to confirm exactly where the latest objects came from.