Investigators still don't know exactly what happened to MH370
Malaysia has released a safety investigation report into the disappearance of MH370 – and they still don't know exactly what happened to the plane.
LEARN MOREPosted: 5:09 p.m. EDT Jul 18, 2023
Officials in Australia are asking for the public's help in identifying a huge metal object that washed ashore.
The bronze-colored cylinder object was discovered on Saturday near Jurien Bay in Western Australia and reported to police.
"As the origin of the object is unknown, the community should avoid handling or attempting to move the object," said the Australian Space Agency.
The object is about 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide. It also has barnacles toward the bottom, indicating it was in the ocean for an extended period of time.
Australian officials speculate that the object may be from a "foreign space launch vehicle," adding that it's working with international counterparts to potentially provide more information about its origins.
People online have offered their guesses about where the object came from — with many suggesting it could be from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
The flight disappeared in March 2013 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Crews searched the Indian Ocean for years, hoping to learn what happened to the flight.
A piece of debris from the plane was first found on an island in the Indian Ocean in 2015, but an official cause of what happened to the plane was never determined.
Despite online sleuths hoping for a break in the MH370 investigation, the European Space Agency provided a more likely theory.
Engineers told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the object was likely from an Indian rocket that launched a satellite to space.
The Indian Space Research Organization has not confirmed whether the part belonged to one of its rockets.
