A large metal cylinder believed to be from a Chinese satellite or aircraft has fallen from the sky and slammed into a mining area in Myanmar.
The 15ft long and a metre thick barrel-shaped object crashed into the property in Kachin State's Hpakant township on Thursday, according to state media.
Another smaller piece of metal bearing Chinese writing tore through the roof of a house in a nearby village at the same time, but nobody was injured.
The Global New Light newspaper reported: "The metal objects are assumed to be part of a satellite or the engine parts of a plane or missile."
It added that authorities are still trying to confirm the origin of the debris.
Pictures on social media showed what appeared to be pieces of technological equipment and wiring attached to the inside of the vast cylinder.
Residents reported hearing a loud bang before the hunk of metal landed and then bounced some 50 metres across the mining area before coming to rest in the mud.
The bizarre events came on the same day Chinese state media reported Beijing had recently launched a satellite into space.
"It could not be confirmed whether the launch of the satellite and the metal objects found in Kachin state were related," the Global New Light said.
Hpakant is the centre of Myanmar's murky multi-billion dollar jade industry, which feeds a voracious demand for the stone in neighbouring China.
A string of deadly landslides in the mine-pocketed area have killed scores over the past year.
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