<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">India's space chief says a giant metal dome that washed up on an Australian beach was definitely part of a rocket - but may or may not be Indian.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We can't confirm it's ours unless we analyse it," S Somanath told the BBC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There has been wild speculation about the object ever since it was discovered at Green Head beach, about 250km (155 miles) north of Perth, at the weekend.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some even said it may be from India's latest Moon mission launch last Friday but experts quickly ruled that out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cylindrical object, about 2.5m wide and between 2.5m and 3m long, has generated a lot of excitement among the residents of Green Head beach.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was initially speculated that the wreckage could be a part of MH370 - a plane that went missing off the west Australian coast in 2014 with 239 passengers on board.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But aviation experts soon clarified that the item couldn't have come from a commercial aircraft and that it was possibly a fuel tank from a rocket that had fallen into the Indian Ocean at some stage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Australian Space Agency then said it was possible the giant cylinder could have fallen from a "foreign space launch vehicle".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This resulted in speculation that the object was a fuel tank of a PSLV - the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles that the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) regularly uses to launch satellites into space.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since one was most recently used last Friday to send the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into orbit, it led to speculation that the debris came from that - despite experts saying the object had been in the water for at least a few months. Photos showing its extensive barnacle cover support that argument.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Somanath, who heads Isro, told the BBC that there was "no mystery" about the object, confirming that "it is part of some rocket".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It could be a PSLV or any other and unless we see and analyse it, it cannot be confirmed," he said. The Australian authorities have yet to release more details.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Somanath, however, confirmed that "some of the PSLV parts are known to have fallen in the sea beyond Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone" and said that the object "may have been floating for a long time and finally reached shore".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added that there was no danger associated with the debris.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Authorities in Australia, however, have said they were treating the item "as hazardous" and police have requested people to keep a safe distance. Some experts said it could contain toxic materials. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>