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A pile of space debris was found burning near a mine in the Australian outback on Oct. 18

Police said the object's characteristics were "consistent with known space re-entry debris"

It is unclear what kind of space debris fell and why

A pile of space debris was recently found burning near a mine in the Australian outback, and there are many questions about its surprising return to Earth.

Workers at a Pilbara mine site called emergency services on Saturday, Oct. 18, after discovering the burning pile of debris around 2 p.m. local time, according to Australia’s 9News and ABC News .

West Australia police said in a statement that the object is not believed to have come from a commercial aircraft, but rather "a composite-overwrapped pressure vessel or rocket tank" consist

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