Experts suggest that a substantial piece of charred material, recently discovered smoldering in the Australian outback, is likely debris from a secretive Chinese rocket. The object reportedly crash-landed after failing to fully disintegrate during its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Local miners in Western Australia’s Pilbara region discovered a smoking wreckage, measuring approximately 5 feet (1.5 meters) across, on Saturday, October 18, at around 2 p.m. local time. The debris was located roughly 18.5 miles (30 kilometers) from the town of Newman, with ABC News initially reporting the find.

After local police quickly eliminated the possibility of an aviation origin, they swiftly identified an unidentified object as potential space debris. The Australian Space Agency was subsequently called in to retrieve the material for in-depth analysis, though experts there were initially unable to determine the debris’s precise nature or source.