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She saw a car-sized object above a Texas farm and found a wayward hunk of NASA equipment
NASA's research balloon carrying telescopes to study stars and black holes crashed in Hale County, Texas, with officials recovering equipment after a day-long flight.
- On Thursday, October 2, 2025, a piece of NASA research equipment attached to a parachute fell near Ann Walter’s home in Edmonson, Texas, and her family captured photos and videos of the landing.
- The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility launches high-altitude research balloons from Fort Sumner, New Mexico, about 140 miles west of where the balloon landed.
- Locals described the payload as roughly the size of a sport-utility vehicle, with NASA stickers, landing in a neighbor’s wheat field beneath a 30-foot parachute, local witnesses said.
- Hale County officials confirmed NASA contacted them last week about the missing equipment after Ann Walter reached out, and investigators with a truck and trailer retrieved the device.
- The balloon carried telescopes to gather data on stars, galaxies and black holes, and Walter was told the flight launched a day earlier.
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63 Articles
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Read Full Article'It's kind of surreal that it happened to us': Rural West Texas woman witnesses NASA space junk as it lands in her neighbor's yard
When Ann Walter called the local sheriff's office, she learned that NASA, indeed, was looking for a piece of equipment that had gone lost.
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources63
Leaning Left9Leaning Right8Center38Last UpdatedBias Distribution69% Center
Bias Distribution
- 69% of the sources are Center
69% Center
L 16%
C 69%
15%
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