A mysterious metal object fell from the night sky in northern Argentina, sparking alarm among residents.

Footage shows a bright streak of light moving across the horizon in Chaco province on Thursday, September 25.

Police later confirmed that the object - a cylindrical, metallic-looking item - had landed in farmland in Puerto Tirol, on property owned by a local farmer.

Emergency responders quickly cordoned off the area, and the Metropolitan Fire Department was called in to assess potential risks. The team worked to rule out the possibility of an explosion or hazardous materials.

Authorities told media that the object measured approximately 1.7 metres in length and 1.2 metres in diameter, and was identified as a rocket fuel tank component.

Experts who examined the debris believe it to be a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV), a high-strength tank commonly used in aerospace engineering to store gases under high pressure.

It remains unclear from which spacecraft the tank originated, though some reports suggest it may have come from a Chinese rocket.

The farmland is located directly beneath the flight path of a Jielong-3 rocket, which was launched from an offshore platform near China's coast just one day earlier.