Flying in with a tremendous roar... The identity of this object that pierced through a home's ceiling

Cylindrical Metal Piece Falls on Florida Home
Expert: "Part of Battery Discarded from Space 3 Years Ago"

Three years ago, space debris presumed to have been discarded by NASA from the International Space Station (ISS) recently fell onto a house in the United States. The incident caused holes in the ceiling and floor of the house, but fortunately, there were no casualties.

On the 8th of last month, the floor of Alejandro Otero's house in Florida, USA, was pierced by a metal fragment discarded from a space station. [Source=Daily Mail]

Recently, the British Daily Mail reported that the incident occurred on the 8th of last month at the home of Alejandro Otero in Florida, USA. The accident happened while Otero was on vacation. During his vacation, he received a call from his son, who was at home, saying, "There was a tremendous noise, and holes were made in the ceiling and floor of the house."

In an interview with local media Wink TV, Otero said, "When the unidentified object hit the ceiling, my son, who was in another room, heard a tremendous impact sound," adding, "At first, I couldn't believe the story, but on the other hand, I thought the object might be a meteorite." He cut his trip short and hurried back home, where he found out that the object was not a meteorite. The object was a cylindrical metal piece weighing less than 1 kg and had an artificial appearance.

After photos of the object were shared on social media (SNS), experts who knew the identity of the object came forward. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, diagnosed the object as part of the EP-P battery pallet that NASA dropped from the International Space Station in March 2021. At that time, NASA expected the 2-ton pallet to burn up completely upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. However, McDowell shared a capture from a space object tracking site and estimated that "this object likely re-entered over the Gulf of Mexico between Cancun, Mexico, and Cuba."

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. The ISS is orbiting against the backdrop of the blue Earth.
[Photo by NASA]

NASA has recovered the object and sent it to the Kennedy Space Center for analysis to confirm its identity. If it is confirmed that this object is space debris from the space station, the homeowner, Mr. Otero, may claim damages from NASA. Otero said, "What are the chances that something would fall with enough force to cause such significant damage to a house? I'm just grateful that no one was hurt."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned in a report last year that space debris could cause human or property damage once every two years by 2035. Most space debris burns up in the atmosphere upon re-entry to Earth, but some do not disappear and fall to the ground. NASA currently estimates that 95% of the objects orbiting Earth are space debris, and the European Space Agency (ESA) estimates the total mass of space debris to be 11,500 tons.