The army Gardai, Army and Met Eireann are all "baffled" and still no closer to solving the mystery of the nine parachutes and tubular frames which dropped from the sky over Waterford on Monday.
A Garda press spokesman said: "The whole thing is still up in the air, to coin an expression, but our investigations are continuing." In fact, he added jokingly, they weren't up in the air any more. "The parachutes have been examined by the Army bomb disposal unit and are safely stored away."
The nine orange and white parachutes attached to aluminium tubular frames landed on city-centre streets and greens on Monday morning. The tubes contained soil and water, and were sealed with wax.
"They have been examined and are not dangerous. They have been stored away and we haven't a clue where they came from," said an Army spokesman.
The Irish and British meteorological services have denied carrying out any experiments in the area.
Gardai have ruled out a theory that the "contraptions" could have come from England or Europe. They are going on the basis that if they had come a long distance they would not have all fallen in one small area.
The gardai are not amused and point out that they have more important matters to deal with. They believe the mystery objects may be part of a hoax operation.
Supt Michael McGarry, of Waterford Garda station, said: "We are continuing the investigation into who is behind this, and if it does emerge to be some kind of publicity stunt it will be my intention to forward a file to the DPP based on wasting of police time and resources," he said.
Shannon Airport reported no unusual flight activity over Waterford on Monday morning, while in Waterford the regional airport has no record of any flights in the area at the time.
The devices were collected and isolated at Waterford Garda station. The tubes have been sent for forensic examination.
Gardai are appealing for anyone with information that may help to solve the mystery to contact them immediately.
One local said: "It was lucky nobody was injured by those heavy metal tubes. I hope there are no more up there." It took two men to lift each of the parachute structures.
So far, nobody has claimed seeing any of the objects falling to the ground.
Eight of the objects were found on Monday, while a ninth was recovered yesterday. It is believed it arrived at the same time as the others but was undiscovered until yesterday.