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The Australian Space Agency says it has identified the “likely source” of the six so-called space balls that were found washed up on Queensland beaches in recent days. The agency said in a statement:

double quotation mark The recovered objects appear to be pressure vessels from a space launch vehicle. The Agency has identified the likely source.

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

The Agency is continuing to engage with international authorities to formally confirm the launch vehicle and launching state.

The space debris were found on beaches in the Forest Beach suburb, north of Townsville.

Dr Alice Gorman , a space archaeologist at Flinders University, told the Guardian yesterday the objects were likely “space balls” from the fuel stage of a rocket.