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Expert: - 10/25/2008


Question

falling debris from th
To whom this question may concern:

I am posting this question on the internet as to find answers to what’s been on my mind for the last three weeks and I would like answers. On the night of September 25, 2008, a friend and I was sitting out right about 12:30 P.M. discussing what we were going to do on the job the next day. The skies were clear. The stars were bright, and the night was cool. All in a sudden a light bright ball of blue light came falling down threw the sky. My friend and I starred at it until it went out, but it did not go out in the sky.  As a matter of fact, this object had appeared to hit the ground for the simple fact that we were sitting adjacent to a white carport and for at least five seconds everything around us and above lit up light blue. I told my friend that object appeared to be about a block away from us where it fell and also told him I always starred at the stars and always wanted to find a meteorite. I thought this maybe my lucky chance since it appeared to fall so close. The next morning I got up bright and early as to go in look for that object that fell nearby. I asked my daughter is she would like to assist me and finding the object that fell. She asked me what would the object look like if I was to spot it. I told her it should be rockfish in nature, dark colored, out of shape, and possibly burnt looking. In other words an odd ball rock. As she helped me to comb the area as to where I believed it fell, to no avail we found nothing and I abandoned the hunt. A little later on that evening, my daughter went for her daily walk around the ballpark in the area I believe it fell in. As I met her later, she told me of a large piece of burnt looking rubberish object laying in the grass as she passed the ballpark. I asked her if she would show me and she did. As I seen the object laying there, it appeared to be out of place. I looked at the neighborhood around the object and all seemed to be clean, and tidy. I couldn’t imagine why someone would want to throw a burnt chartered piece of plastic on school property. My daughter informed me that the object was not there the day before when she walked there. I told my daughter this may not be the meteorite I was looking for but surely I believe this burnt chartered melted piece of plastic fell from the sky. So I picked it up with a piece of newspaper and brought it home. As I took a real close look at it, I noticed that there were grass particles inbetted in the object but not burnt. I also noticed that the object apparently had to be soft when it hit the ground for it splatted and sooled before the object had a chance to settle. I also noticed that there were some small rubbish type of blue silicon looking objects in it. It appears to be no more that a burnt chartered piece of plastic that fell through the sky, but still I would like to know what aircraft did it come off it and if it could be a precursor to an accident yet waiting to happen. Any correspondence to this matter would greatly be appreciated.

Yours Truly,
J. Chauppetta  

Answer
J
You have a real mystery.  I think we can agree it is not a meteorite. Plastic could not survive the intense heat of reentry.  Aircraft debris is a likely candidate, but there are few if any plastic parts on the exterior of an aircraft.  To melt it would likely have to be part of the propulsion system, but plastic in that area is even less likely.  One thought - perhaps it came from some type of weather balloon or research balloon.  Those things go to very high altitude, and are put up daily at various locations.  The plastic could be part of some instrument that caught fire and fell.  But I confess this is all conjecture.  Good luck with your query.
Paul

Paul Soderman

Expertise

Aeronautics, Fluid Mechanics, Aeroacoustics, Noise Control, Muffler Design, Wind Tunnel Research.... I know nothing about India - do not ask about schools, jobs, application requirements, career choices, etc. for India. Please, no text message verbiage; I prefer full words in full sentences. Thanks.

Experience

38 years as research engineer at NASA

Publications
AIAA, NASA

Education/Credentials
B.S. and M.S. Aeronautical Engineering - U. of Washington Graduate work Standford U.

Awards and Honors
AIAA Associate Fellow (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)

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