A mystery UFO-like object that washed up on a South Carolina beach left residents mystified at the weekend.

The large cylindrical object, described as being soft and feeling like foam, was found by Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network who are usually deployed to deal with animals struggling on the shoreline.

After finding the large object on Thursday on Seabrook Island, they posted the image to Facebook, saying: ‘Look at this mysterious object that washed ashore on Seabrook Island today! What do you think it is?’

The large cylindrical object was described as being soft and feeling like foam

Naturally, the open-ended question led to many theories, some grounded, some more out of this world.

The most likely explanation is that it’s a dredge pipe float or part of a buoy.

Philip Folk said the mystery object looked like a satellite part with Alicia Silva saying it may be The Death Star from Star Wars.

It washed up on Seabrook Island and officials with the city of nearby Charleston came out to investigate the object before taking it away.

The mystery object washed up on the shore of Seabrook Island, not far from Charleston, SC

Kathy Kinslow May said: ‘There was something similar on Kiawah today too!’

Kawiah Island is the island separated only by a narrow river from Seabrook.

Kathy Kinslow added: ‘I wish I’d taken a pic. No one could figure out what it was. We finally thought it must have been part of a marine buoy.’

Sandy Behrens had a more outlandish theory, she said: ‘Aliens! It does look like something from Cape Canaveral. I remember seeing something similar in St. Lucia.’

Military munitions are known to have been dumped in coastal waters around the Maritimes in Nova Scotia, Canada. These may have floated down the coast all the way to South Carolina.