There was a golden era of stuff washing up on beaches, but the internet has ruined it. Now, you just snap a photo, throw it on Reddit, and within twenty minutes someone is like, “That’s a muffler from Volkswagen Rabbit with seaweed stuck to it.
Not as much mystery anymore, which is why it was refreshing when an Australian beach found itself coming down with a case of space balls.
And no, it wasn’t to commemorate Mel Brooks’ 100th birthday (Happy belated birthday!) or some guerrilla marketing stunt to drum up excitement for the upcoming film, “Spaceballs: The New One.
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This week, a few big, metallic balls appeared on a beach in North Queensland, Australia, with Queensland Fire and Rescue warning people to stay away from the mysterious objects.
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“Queensland Fire and Rescue crews are continuing to assist partner agencies following the discovery of several potentially hazardous objects around Forrest Beach in North Queensland,” they said on social media.
While they’re not some kind of alien technology that will unlock the next step in human evolution like the monoliths in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” it turns out that these balls are genuinely from space.
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The Australian Space Agency says that they believe the space balls are actually pressure vessels used in a space launch.
“The recovered objects appear to be pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle,” a spokesperson told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “The Agency has identified the likely source — objects’ location and characteristics are consistent with debris from a foreign rocket body that recently re-entered the atmosphere from orbit.”
The agency is working with international counterparts to determine whose space balls were washing up on their shores.
And if you ever stumble apon space junk and think you’re just going to take it home with you and put it on display in your office to impress guests — as has always been my plan
“Never touch, move, or recover suspected space debris and assume it to be hazardous — move away and contact emergency services,” the agency said.