NASA officially confirms that mysterious object found in NC mountains is SpaceX debris – The Debrief

NASA has officially confirmed that a mysterious object found on a remote North Carolina trail is SpaceX debris, originating from one of the American space shuttle company’s Dragon capsules.

“SpaceX has confirmed the reentry of the Dragon spacecraft trunk hardware to NASA following its servicing missions to the International Space Station,” the US space agency said in a recent statement to NC-based reporter Justin Berger.

“NASA is not aware of any structural damage or injury resulting from these findings,” he added.

In May, Debrief was the first to report speculation that the object was connected to a SpaceX launch after its discovery, which was first reported by WLOS News, an ABC television affiliate based in Asheville, NC.

In late May, the object was found by maintenance worker Justin Clontz along a hiking trail owned by The Glamping Collective.

The object, made of metal and carbon fiber and measuring about three feet, was so large that Clontz had to use a lawnmower to remove it from the area where it was found.

Suspecting that the object may be part of a SpaceX Crew Dragon fuselage, based on its similarity to debris found in Saskatchewan, Canada, earlier this year, Debrief contacted Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who confirmed the likelihood of this connection, noting that such debris can survive reentry and that the reentry path matches the location of North Carolina.

“It looks right and the reentry Tuesday night went right over this spot,” McDowell said Debrief on May 24, 2024, noting that although it appears to be the same type of object, the debris found in North Carolina was from a different mission than the one associated with the object found in Saskatchewan.

“The Crew-7 Dragon mission battery re-entered over NC this Tuesday,” McDowell said at the time. “[The Saskatchewan] the object is from the trunk of Axiom 3, which returned in February.”

According to McDowell, the Dragon Trunk section from the Axiom 3 mission returned over Saskatchewan on February 26.

“We’re finding that the composite material from the trunk is doing surprisingly well from reentry,” McDowell wrote in a post on X.

Since its initial discovery, the object’s recovery has received extensive media attention. Brett Tingley, Managing Editor and reporter at Space.com, was among the first to visit the site and photograph the object.

“SpaceX has yet to contact the Glamping Collective about the alleged debris,” Tingley said after his visit to view the debris.

Currently, the Glamping Collective has the debris on display at its Haywood County campground, where guests of the owners are allowed to view it.

NASA says an additional trunk similar to the one from which the NC is attached is currently in orbit attached to Crew-8 Dragon on the International Space Station. Crew-8 Dragon will return to Earth later this year.

For now, NASA advises that if suspected space debris is discovered, members of the public are advised not to attempt to retrieve it themselves.

“In the unlikely event that a piece of space debris is found, please do not attempt to handle or retrieve the debris,” NASA advised. “Instead, please contact the Space Waste Hotline at 1-866-623-0234 or at recovery@spacex.com.”

Micah Hanks is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Debrief. He can be contacted by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and in X: @MicahHanks.