Debris from satellites’ collision possibly seen in Texas skies
16 Feb 2009
According to reports, debris is apparently falling down on Texas from the satellite collision that took place last week (See: Space crash: Iridium 'fixes' problem, but scientists worried / Space crash destroys Iridium-owned satellite)
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has received a series of reports from law enforcement agencies in Texas in regards to reports of debris falling out of the sky, the biggest of which was something which looked like a ball of fire going across the Texas sky.
"We don't know what it was," said FAA spokesman Roland Herwig. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office used a helicopter to search after callers said they thought they saw a plane crashing, a spokesman said. "We don't doubt what people saw" but authorities found nothing, said spokesman John Foster.
The US Strategic Command said there was no connection to the sightings over Texas and Tuesday's collision of satellites from the US and Russia. "There is no correlation between the debris from that collision and those reports of re-entry," said Major Regina Winchester, with STRATCOM.
Not only was a ball of fire seen, but a sonic boom was also reported in the state. According to the FAA, there have been no injuries, deaths, or anything of that nature from the debris. On top of that, there have also been no reports of any damage.
The FAA notified pilots on Saturday to be aware of possible space debris after the collision on Tuesday. The chief of Russia's Mission Control says clouds of debris from the collision will circle Earth for thousands of years and threaten numerous satellites.
