One of the lights seen streaking across the Pacific Northwest sky last week crashed on a Grant County farm.
People across the region spotted the flaming parts of the Falcon 9 rocket in the night sky about 9 p.m. Thursday, March 25.
Pieces of the second stage of the SpaceX rocket ignited in the atmosphere after an unsuccessful deorbit burn.
The rocket was meant to fire the engines to so it could reenter the Earth's atmosphere.
While none of the pieces were supposed to land in the area, an Eastern Washington farmer discovered a nearly intact piece of the rocket — a composite-overwrapped pressure vessel — in a field in the southwest part of the county.
It left a nearly 4-inch dent in the ground, said Kyle Foreman with the Grant County Sheriff's Office.
The farmer suspected it may have come from the rocket and reached out to the sheriff's office.
Deputies took a look and then contacted SpaceX officials who confirmed it was part of the rocket and came to retrieve it.
The Falcon 9 is a reusable two-stage rocket designed by SpaceX to transport people and payloads into the Earth's orbit and beyond, according to the SpaceX website.
It says there have been 111 launches, 71 landings and 54 reflown rockets.
While the sheriff's office shared the news about the treasure found in the rural Central Washington county, the property owner didn't want to identified.
