The ‘Mysterious Object’ that struck the man’s house in Florida originated from the Space Station, according to NASA

In a blog post on Monday, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) revealed that the enigmatic item that fell on the roof of an American man’s house last month is, in fact, a piece of debris that was released from the International Space Station.

Alejandro Otero’s house in Naples, Florida, had a mystery item smash through the roof on March 8, 2024. Otero described the occurrence on social networking site X, which was then known as Twitter, saying that the item “tore through the roof and went through two floors” of his home, almost striking his kid.

“Hey there. It seems that one of the pieces landed at my Naples home instead of Ft. Myers. went through two stories and the roof. Nearly his son, mine. Would you kindly help me get in contact with NASA? In the article, Otero said, “I’ve sent emails and left messages without a response.

The item weighed 1.6 pounds (700 kilos), and NASA, which later acquired it from Otero for investigation, acknowledged that it was dumped by the International Space Station in March 2021.

“A cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries was released from the International Space Station in March 2021 by NASA ground controllers using the robotic arm of the station. This was done after new lithium-ion batteries were delivered and installed as part of power upgrades on the orbital outpost. The space agency provided specifics in a blog post, stating that the total mass of the gear dropped from the space station was around 5,800 pounds.

On March 8, 2024, gear that was discharged from the space station was supposed to completely burn up upon re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere. However, one piece of the hardware survived and made contact with Otero’s Florida home.

The agency concluded that the debris was a stanchion from the NASA flight support equipment that was used to install the batteries on the cargo pallet after conducting an analysis. The agency verified that the item, which weighs 1.6 pounds and has dimensions of 4 inches in height and 1.6 inches in diameter, is composed of the metal alloy Inconel.

Additionally, the US space agency promised to look into how the debris avoided total destruction in the atmosphere after re-entry.

When space gear has to be released, “NASA remains committed to operating in low Earth orbit responsibly and mitigating as much risk as possible to protect people on Earth,” the statement said.

Numerous space objects have collided with Earth. A lady was struck by a tiny meteorite on her balcony last year while sipping coffee. The event happened in northeastern France, in the Schirmeck area.