• A metallic orb fell from the sky above Mexico. No one knows what it is yet.
• A local television meteorologist reported on the strange object, describing it as having an antenna.
• While there’s some light-hearted speculation that it’s alien in origin, the most likely explanation is that the sphere is spacecraft debris.

Social media is awash with theories about the origin and purpose of a strange, smooth, solid object, which landed on a tree in Veracruz, Mexico, the night of July 31.

Isidro Cano Luna, a television meteorologist reporting on the mystery, says locals described the sphere making a sound as it fell, but releasing no fire. He posted several messages to his more than 132,000 followers about the object, along with photos of what appears to be a dull, yellow sphere the size of a large beach ball perched atop a tree.

“A specialized team at the secretary of the Navy of Mexico and/or the secretary of national defense needs to collect it and turn it in for special study,” Luna says in a July 31 Facebook post.

Luna describes the sphere in all caps in his posts. It seems to be made of “A VERY HARD PLASTIC OR AN ALLOY OF VARIOUS METALS,” and “APPARENTLY IT HAS AN ANTENNA,” he says. Luna wonders if it could be a former chunk of a Chinese rocket that crashed back to Earth and landed in the Indian Ocean over the weekend. Perhaps it could be radioactive, he writes, warning people who see it not to get too close. There’s no apparent way to get inside the orb, either. It has a a code visible on its exterior, he says in an August 1 post. “NOTICE SMALL HOLES THAT ARE A KIND OF [INDECIPHERABLE] CODES.”

In another post, he claimed that the spheres would open on a timer “AND SHOW THE VALUABLE INFORMATION THEY BRING WITHIN THEM.” He speculated that the orb is made of seven alloys.

His original post has over 1,000 comments. People wonder if it’s part of the Chinese rocket, or perhaps a piece from some other spacecraft that fell recently, such as the SpaceX Dragon capsule. While folks don’t seem to seriously entertain the idea that it’s alien-made, a few commenters have written things like “... let us know if some green beings come out please ... just in case.”

Luna followed up his original posts to say that the orb had been taken out of Veracruz to be analyzed by trained personnel. “... ITS FINAL DESTINATION WILL BE BEYOND OUR BORDERS … WILL THE AUTHORITIES SAY THAT THIS WAS A JOKE OR FAKE NEWS? … NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE: CLOSED.”

At this point, almost nothing is known about the orb, but people love to speculate about the possibility of extraterrestrial origins for inexplicable objects, especially when they come from the sky. The blog UFO Sightings Footage reported that cameras sighted three silvery orbs flying over West London on July 12. Their ability to change direction with no discernible mechanism fueled the idea that they were alien technology.

So far, intense discussion of aliens hasn’t appeared online about the Mexican orb—yet. Do you know anything about the mysterious object? Have your own theory? Sound off in the comments below