Charred Metal Plunges Into Alley, Tied to Soviet Rocket

A large chunk of scorched metal fell between two houses early Sunday, and Air Force officials said Tuesday it might be one of the pieces of a Soviet booster rocket body observed plunging back to Earth in a burst of bright lights.

The object fell at Lakeport and was first reported lying in an alleyway Sunday afternoon, police reported. The site is about 100 miles north-northwest of San Francisco, a few blocks from Clear Lake, a resort area.

Lakeport police said the object was a piece of metal about 7 feet long, 6 to 8 inches wide, a 16th of an inch thick, and scorched around the edges. There were no markings and no indications about where it was from, they said.

An Air Force team took the object for analysis to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, base spokesman Sgt. Dick Hodgson said.

Maj. Bob Perry, spokesman for the North American Air Defense Command near Colorado Springs, Colo., said the center was aware of reports of objects that appeared to be falling to Earth early Sunday. It was about 2:40 a.m. Sunday that bright, fiery lights were observed bursting out of the sky.