Investigations continue into cause of mystery ‘explosion’ that destroyed Geraldton’s Horizon ball

Police say they have no suspects in relation to the shock destruction of one of Geraldton’s most popular landmarks at the weekend — the Horizon ball on the Beresford foreshore — with the cause of the damage remaining a mystery. It is understood the $80,000 sculpture — a two-tonne hollow acrylic sphere holding 1800 litres of water — shattered on Saturday night, with a nearby resident reporting the incident to police after the ball “exploded”. Authorities are investigating whether it broke by itself or someone was involved. By Sunday, the debris had been cleared and on Monday morning Geraldton Police said it was still unclear what caused the damage. Officers were waiting to process more CCTV footage. But they said police weren’t pursuing any individuals in a criminal context. Mayor Shane Van Styn said he had been “shocked” to learn what had happened to the popular sculpture, but was confident investigators would solve the mystery of what occurred. “Police have been given the details of the people who have CCTV footage, we have spoken to the artist and the insurers and we are working through that process at the moment,” he said. Mr Van Styn said the City would also consider options for replacing the sculpture in the future. He asked anyone with information or CCTV footage of the incident to contact police. It comes after youths with gings damaged Horizon earlier this year, with specialist repairs costing the City $8000. Some social media sleuths suggested it was this vandalism which may have “weakened” the sphere and turned it into a “ticking time bomb”. It is unclear if the weekend’s hot temperatures, which reached a maximum of 38C on Saturday, played any part. Images of the ball have spread far and wide on social media, attracting tourists from all over the country. Queenslanders Mark and Janice Maxfield have been travelling WA for months, and arrived in town over the weekend only to find the ball missing. “We’d seen it on all the Facebook travel pages and thought, while we’ve got some time we’ll go have a look. It was on the bucket list.” Mrs Maxfield said on Monday. The work by artist Lucy Humphrey was installed in 2019. It has won multiple awards and has become one of Geraldton’s most photographed public art pieces.