By Tim Binnall
In a fantastical story out of India, residents living along a beach being battered by a powerful cyclone were baffled by the sudden appearance of a mysterious gold-colored chariot that washed ashore from parts unknown. According to a local media report, the puzzling piece of debris was spotted in the Sunnapalli Sea Harbor in the state of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday as Cyclone Asani was pounding the region. Upon catching sight of the out-of-place object floating in the water, several daring individuals braved the elements and swam out to retrieve the chariot.
Had they been hoping that the object was actually made of gold, their hopes were undoubtedly dashed when it was determined that the colorful debris was constructed out of tin sheet metal that had simply been given a gilded appearance with paint. Beyond how it was built, however, lingers a far larger mystery, which is that of its origins. Authorities, who seized the chariot shortly after it had been pulled to shore, say that it bears only the inscription '16-01-2022,' suggesting it was built this past January 16th, but otherwise contained no clues as to where it could have come from.
Given the turbulent seas throughout the region thanks to Cyclone Asani, one local official speculated that the chariot could have been carried to India from some other country. Another theory being bandied about is that it is a prop from a movie that got swept away in the storm. Indicating that they are not taking the matter lightly, authorities reportedly called in a bomb squad to ensure that the 'vessel' posed no danger to the public, which it did not, and they now plan to enlist experts to examine the chariot in the hopes of figuring out where its wild journey began.