![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270320108-9cbc.jpg\")
\n\t\tAnn Vincent Walter said she spotted a large parachute in the sky which then descended on her Texas farm (Picture: Ann Vincent Walter)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAnn Vincent Walter said she spotted a large parachute in the sky which then descended on her Texas farm (Picture: Ann Vincent Walter)<\/p>\n
A wayward piece of NASA equipment that crash landed onto a farmer\u2019s field was a \u2018once-in-a-lifetime\u2019 experience for a rural family.<\/p>\n
Ann Vincent Walter said she spotted a large parachute looming above her west Texas home on October 2.<\/p>\n
The family has since posted a series of photos on Facebook<\/a> with the cosmic equipment behind them in a field.<\/p>\n NASA reportedly told Ann that the equipment had been blown off course after being launched from the Fort Sumner launch facility.<\/p>\n Ann recalled in a Facebook post how her son Hayden was the first to spot the unexpected visitor.<\/p>\n She wrote: \u2018[He] yells in the house and says to hurry and come here! I was like omg what? Haha we both saw this parachute\/balloon in the sky.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018We took videos and pics but continued getting ready for the day. Hayden stated he believes that it landed somewhere because it was gone from the sky.\u2019<\/p>\n Later that day, another family member found the equipment, and Ann was allowed to ditch work<\/a> that morning to visit the downed hardware.<\/p>\n She added: \u2018They gladly let me go so I could see the equipment and experience this once-in-a-lifetime situation.<\/p>\n \u2018What a cool memory and experience.\u2019<\/p>\n Ann said she contacted the Hale County Sheriff\u2019s Office, where officials had also been called by NASA about a piece of missing equipment.<\/p>\n \t\t A NASA researcher reportedly spoke to Ann to explain what had happened.<\/p>\n The equipment had reportedly been launched by the Columbia Scientific Balloon Team as part of a series of experiments aimed at improving the accuracy of telescopes.<\/p>\n Hale County Sheriff David Cochran confirmed that NASA officials called his office last week in search of the equipment, according to ABC News.<\/p>\n A launch schedule on the balloon facility\u2019s website shows a series of launches from Fort Sumner, New Mexico<\/a>, about 140 miles west of where the equipment crashed.<\/p>\n \t\t On average, a total of between 200 and 400 tracked objects enter Earth\u2019s atmosphere every year, according to research by the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.<\/p>\n But the organisation added: \u2018Human populations live on a small percentage of the Earth\u2019s total surface area.<\/p>\n \u2018So any objects that do not burn up and disintegrate upon atmosphere re-entry are likely to fall into the ocean (which covers over 70% of the surface of the Earth) or a sparsely populated land area.\u2019<\/p>\n Last month a farmer in Argentina reported that a mysterious \u2018hairy\u2019 object<\/a>, later identified as a rocket fuel tank capsule, landed in his field.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270320133-3aa8-e1760518390349.jpg\")
\n\t\tNASA reportedly told Ann that the equipment had been blown off course after launch from the Fort Sumner launch facility (Picture: Ann Vincent Walter)<\/p>\n![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270320107-0555-e1760526743253.jpg\")
\n\t\tAnn recalled in a Facebook post how her son Hayden was the first to spot the unexpected visitor (Picture: Ann Vincent Walter)<\/p>\n![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_270320258-a342.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe equipment had reportedly been launched by the Columbia Scientific Balloon Team as part of a series of experiments (Picture: Ann Vincent Walter)<\/p>\n
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