Piece of debris found in a walnut orchard

HANFORD, California (KSEESpatial debris fell on Earth in Hanford, the Kings County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

The sheriff's deputies were sent Saturday in Eighth and Houston Avenues after an orchard owner reported a large metal object in a walnut orchard. We did not know what the object was.

Detectives contacted Vandenberg Air Force Base and learned that the object was likely a fuel tank from a communications satellite owned by Iridium, a satellite communications network, said the sheriff's office.

After contacting Iridium, a representative went to the sheriff's office, where the metal object was stored. The Iridium representative identified the metal object as a hydrazine fuel tank that was previously connected to and operated by a communications satellite owned by Iridium.

The sheriff's office identified the tank as coming from the Iridium 70 Satellite The satellite was launched into space on May 17, 1998 and was in a low Earth orbit until it reached the atmosphere of the planet.