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Debris allegedly coming from a space communications program collapsed on a California nut farm, with investigators working on the idea that they came from a recently crumbled satellite launched in the 1990s.
When an orchard owner discovered charred metal fragments in Hanford, the investigators from the Kings County Police Department rushed to the scene were perplexed. Then they turned to a nearby air base.
According to local media outlets, authorities at Vandenberg Air Force Base confirmed that this piece of metal, which looked like a burned helmet, was a fuel tank. The installation was the host of the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets.
READ MORE: "The extraterrestrials are real": the launch of SpaceX on the west coast scares Californians (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
However, the debris does not come from the space society founded by Elon Musk. In fact, the fuel tank goes back to an Iridium satellite sent into space as early as 1998, reported Kron 4.
A spokesman for the communications company said the remains appeared to come from Iridium 70, an out-of-service satellite whose parts could still form part of the millions of man-made waste found around our planet in space.
Debris should be sent to Iridium headquarters for analysis.
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Iridium is currently undergoing an overhaul of its space network and has successfully put into orbit seven of the eight NEXT satellite constellations via SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Low Earth orbit satellites are used for broadband surveillance as well as real-time aircraft monitoring. The latest Iridium Next satellite is expected to be launched in December.
RT.com has contacted Iridium and the Kings County Sheriff Department for further comments.
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