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A bizarre UFO sighting in North Carolina earlier this year has been determined to be falling "space junk," NASA recently confirmed via the Daily Mail.
The giant object found by a landscaping crew working the Glamping Collective campsite in May was confirmed to have been part of the SpaceX satellite Crew Dragon, which reached the International Space Station in 2023.
"SpaceX has confirmed the re-entry of Dragon spacecraft trunk hardware to NASA following its service missions to the International Space Station," NASA confirmed in a statement re-shared by WLOS reporter Justin Berger. "During its initial design, the Dragon spacecraft trunk was evaluated for re-entry breakup and was predicted to burn up fully.
"The information from the debris recovery provides an opportunity for teams to improve debris modeling,' the statement went on.
"NASA and SpaceX will continue exploring additional solutions as we learn from the discovered debris."
The object was described as having a strange material that resembled fur, which was determined to be frayed carbon fibers, as Smithsonian astrophysicist Dr. Jonathan McDowell had previously claimed to the Daily Mail upon its discovery earlier this year. The largest piece was found on a hiking trail, while several smaller pieces were reported to have fallen into backyards of nearby homes, according to Space.com.