Buzz about alien life has reached fever pitch in the last few years, partly thanks to mysterious missives from the Pentagon, and partly thanks to a wave of suspected sightings by space-gazing civilians. Could it really be the case that we’re experiencing an uptick in extraterrestrial encounters? Some citizens in a remote part of Western Australia seem to think so, after an enigmatic metal cylinder turned up on their beach, with police quickly stepping in to guard the wreckage.

Discovered on Sunday (July 16) on a beach near Green Head, a small coastal town 155 miles north of Perth, the six-and-a-half-foot object was reported to authorities by a civilian. According to some reports, a local couple had found it floating in the water, and dragged it onto land with their 4x4. By Monday, the Western Australia Police Force had investigated and established a perimeter to guard it from the public.

According to tests carried out by emergency services officials, as well as chemical and forensic science investigators, the object does not pose a risk to the public. Nevertheless, the police force is asking people to stay away in order to preserve any potential evidence, which might help experts establish where it came from. The police have also discouraged speculation about its origins.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped members of the public – who reportedly gathered around the cylinder on Sunday, before police arrived – from sharing their theories. Could it be a part from the Malaysia Airlines plane that vanished in 2014? Could it be debris from a malfunctioning military device? Could it be alien machinery, the first sign of intelligent life beyond our atmosphere?

Probably not, to be honest. At least, Australian authorities say that it’s unlikely that the object is part of a commercial aircraft, though they admit that the investigation is in an “early stage”. The Australian Space Agency, meanwhile, has suggested that the object could come from a “foreign space launch vehicle”, and is liaising with other international agencies in an attempt to provide further information.

“As the origin of the object is unknown,” the agency says, “the community should avoid handling or attempting to move the object.”

The object may not be the kind of UFO we were waiting for this time around, but it’s not the first discovery that’s got the Australian extraterrestrial rumour mill churning. A gruesome six-foot skeleton that washed up on Queensland’s Capricornia Coast earlier this month has sparked similar speculation, with onlookers wondering whether it belongs to an animal, human, mermaid, or little green man.

Given that the metal cylinder and the organic remains were found on opposite coasts of the world’s sixth-largest country, it’s highly unlikely that they’re linked. But who knows how far an alien’s ejector seat flies?

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