The Vietnamese army opened an investigation into three metal balls believed could be fallen space debris in the north last week in the country, said Friday a senior military official.
Two metal balls were discovered in the province of Yen Bai (nooeste) and largest, about 45 kilos, in the neighboring province of Tuyen Quang, told AFP the army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan.
"We are identifying their origin," he said, noting that contain explosive or hazardous materials.
According to the official press, local witnesses had heard a noise before the fall of the balls, on 2 January.
An initial investigation indicates that the objects have been manufactured in Russia and come from missiles or spacecraft, the newspaper Thanh Nien reported.
Professor Nguyen Khoa Son, Vietnamese scientific space program, told the website VietnamNet parts that could come from a failed satellite launch.
According to NASA, there are more than 500,000 debris orbiting the Earth, of which some fall every year on our planet.
(AFP Photo)