A hunk of space junk appears to have come in hot and heavy in Australia.

On Saturday (Oct. 18), mine workers found a mysterious smoking slab sitting near a remote access road some 19 miles (30 kilometers) east of Newman, Western Australia. The Western Australia Police Force visited the site and took note of the incident, as did the Australian Space Agency, which explained that it will carry out "further technical analysis to identify its origin."

But an early look at the mysterious debris suggests that it is made of carbon fiber, and is perhaps part of a rocket.

In a blog post on Monday (Oct. 20), space analyst Marco Langbroek said that the object resembles a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV). COPVs hold high-pressure gases and liquids inside rockets and often survive reentry

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