Emergency services have been called in after a piece of suspected space debris was found burning near an outback Western Australia mine site at the weekend.

Workers at the site, which is about 30 kilometres east of Newman, found the burning object about 2pm on Saturday and phoned the authorities.

“Initial assessments indicate the item was made of carbon fibre and may be a composite-overwrapped pressure vessel or rocket tank, consistent with aerospace components,” a WA police spokesperson said.

WA Police said while they haven’t determined where exactly the debris came from, Australia’s Transport Safety Bureau said it did not appear to come from a commercial aircraft.

“The object remains under investigation, though its characteristics are consistent with known space re-entry debris,” the

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