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Debris in western North Carolina from the SpaceX rocket: NASA

Pieces of a SpaceX trunk that was expected to burn up in the atmosphere actually landed in western North Carolina, where groundskeepers and residents discovered the objects.

Screenshot from The Glamping Collective’s Facebook post

The metallic and almost hairy-looking objects appeared one day in western North Carolina, puzzling residents who stumbled upon the debris.

NASA has now confirmed that the objects came from the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon rocket.

Groundskeepers in Haywood County came across a large piece of debris on May 22, according to The Glamping Collective.

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“We don’t know what it is, we just know it’s not from here,” Justin Clontz told WLOS at the time he and a friend made the discovery.

He called it a “one in a million” chance that he would land on the trail where someone could find him, as opposed to in the woods where he could have gone undetected.

But another local resident also discovered a piece of the spacecraft when it hit his roof and landed in his yard, he told WLOS.

“At first glance, it looked like a dead crow flew into my house and fell there,” Mike Wooten told the media. “But I went down and got a stick to poke it, and found it wasn’t a crow, of course.”

The piece that hit his Macon County home was smaller than the one found on the trail. Clontz said he had to tow the larger piece, which appeared to be several feet high, with a lawnmower.

The parts appear to be metal plates with screws interlaced with fibers.

The objects that reached North Carolina should have burned up completely in the atmosphere, NASA said in a statement.

“Most recently, fuselages supporting SpaceX’s 30th commercial resupply and Crew-7 missions reentered Saudi Arabia and North Carolina, respectively,” the agency said. “NASA is not aware of any structural damage or injuries resulting from these findings.”

The trunk, which contains cooling systems and flight power hardware, should separate from the rest of the spacecraft and disintegrate in the atmosphere, according to NASA. The more durable component of the spacecraft uses parachutes to splash down on Earth.

The remains found on The Glamping Collective property are on display at the trailhead where they were found, the company said.

NASA advises anyone who finds space debris not to handle it and instead contact the SpaceX emergency hotline at 1-866-623-0234 or [email protected].