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United MAX Hit by Falling Object at 36,000 Feet
- ErikCorry 1y agoClassic Azimov plot line
- saltyoldman 1y agoIt definitely would more likely be a meteorite than anything else.
- SteveNuts 1y agoWhat makes a meteorite more likely
- schoen 1y agoJust that many more of them are present in the atmosphere than reentering space debris pieces.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> many more of them are present in the atmosphere At 36,000 feet?
- amelius 1y agoWhy not? What comes down must come from somewhere up.
- jackgavigan 1y agoExactly! If you think about it, every meteorite has passed through 36,000 feet at some point!
- natebc 1y agostill a lot more birds than meteorites or spacecraft.
- dboreham 1y agoThere are not many birds at cruising altitude. Some, but not many.
- throwawayffffas 1y agoThere is usually blood on the plane when it's birds.
- wkat4242 1y agoWhat makes a meteorite not "space debris" though?
- hagbard_c 1y agoThe same which makes fallen leaves in the forest not "garbage". Space debris is man-made, meteorites aren't and hence are not space debris [1]. [1] https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Clean_Space/What_is_space_debris https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Clean_Space/What_is_space_d...
- doodlebugging 1y agoWe are nearly at the peak of the annual Orionid meteor shower. [0] There should be a higher probability of encountering meteor debris during this period than during periods where there are no meteor showers in progress. We are passing through the debris from Halley's Comet right now and for about another two weeks. [0]https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/orionid-meteor-shower-peaks-next-week-with-no-moon-in-sight-oct-2025 https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/orionid-mete...
- rawling 1y agoSome earlier discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45633191 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45633191
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- hughes 1y agoThere should be small pieces of whatever they hit embedded in the body & glass of the aircraft. As long as they are analyzed, the cause of this won't remain a mystery forever.
- Reason077 1y agoMy first thought was that this is more likely to be a spontaneous failure of the windshield glass under pressure, due to manufacturing flaw or improper maintenance. Things like that have certainly happened before. But then again, it seems weird that glass fragments would be projected inward in that scenario.
- SoftTalker 1y agoDon't worry, if it can be blamed on Boeing, it will be.
- hsbauauvhabzb 1y agoNot unless you want to be spontaneously hit by a falling meteorite yourself in some kind of freak accident / suicide scenario.
- pdabbadabba 1y agoWell, they do make satellites...
- WalterBright 1y ago> it seems weird that glass fragments would be projected inward in that scenario At speed, I don't know what the outside pressure on the windshield would be, but I'd be surprised if it was lower than the cabin air pressure. After all, it is called a wind "shield".
- icegreentea2 1y agoPlugging in 35k ft altitude, and 775 ft/s velocity here (https://www.spaceworks.aero/fcc2/index.html https://www.spaceworks.aero/fcc2/index.html) gives dynamic pressure of 220 lb/ft2, vs ~2100 lb/ft2 for 1atm at sea level (the same calculator says 7k ft altitude has a static pressure of ~1600 lb/ft2, or rough idea of cabin air pressure).
- kleiba 1y agoWhat are the odds?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- seltzered_ 1y agoThe odds are much higher these days: https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/what-goes-up-must-come-down-how-megaconstellations-like-spacexs-starlink-network-pose-a-grave-safety-threat-to-us-on-earth-opinion https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/what-goes-up-mus...
- tavavex 1y agoMuch higher than a few decades back, but still effectively zero. Even after putting up X thousands of satellites up into orbit, they still physically cover a tiny total surface area. And the same goes for planes. So two of these colliding would be a monumental freak accident, which is why I'm still assuming it's not space debris until more information shows up.
- inopinatus 1y agoA million to one, they said.
- robotresearcher 1y agoBut still they come.
- antod 1y agoThat's if it was coming from Mars specifically.
- PLenz 1y agoBut it has to be _exactly_ a million to one
- michaelcampbell 1y ago
- krisoft 1y ago> Apparently only one layer of the windshield was damaged How does that square with the picture of the pilot’s arm with tiny cuts? Did the space debris only damage the internal layer? Something is not adding up to me here.
- gnarlouse 1y agoMaybe the outermost layers just transferred the energy to the innermost, which exploded tiny shards of glass? In general though, I agree, weird.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Jalad 1y agoAnd in tank warfare this is called spalling A projectile hits the armor and doesn't penetrate it, but the armor inside still fragments and injured the operators
- Aloisius 1y agoThere a picture of glass spall in the cockpit and it's not unusual for ballistics glass to spall when hit by a projectile. https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatLookedExpensive/comments/1oalnxh/united_airlines_737_max_pilot_injured_after_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatLookedExpensive/comments/1oalnx...
- hinkley 1y ago> Spalling This was also adopted by The Expanse, where the interiors of ships (particularly war ships) are coated in antispalling coatings.
- flashman 1y agodidn't help Shed Garvey lol
- JBiserkov 1y agoSpeculation-free facts: https://avherald.com/h?article=52e80701 https://avherald.com/h?article=52e80701 https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1093/history/20251016/1210Z/KDEN/KLAX https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1093/history/2025...
- gpm 1y agoInteresting that there's been a bird strike at that altitude before (per the comments in avherald). I didn't know birds flew that high.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoI can't remember the species, but there's a bird that files crazy high. I think it's a vulture.
- marcosdumay 1y agoYes, vultures can fly crazy high, and do a lot of damage to aircraft. They are a well-known nemesis of military planes, that fly faster and don't have redundancy to survive a hit.
- dotancohen 1y agoIt should be noted that many species are occasionally hit at altitudes thought to be impossible for them to fly at. One notable example: https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/flying-fish/ https://news.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/flying-fish/
- marcosdumay 1y agoYeah, if I had to predict that kind of collision with fauna, I would fail.
- JoelMcCracken 1y agoGiven this happened 400 ft past the end of the runway, I really don’t think the altitude involved would be very surprising
- bronco21016 1y agoThere are some other pictures circulating showing the exterior of the aircraft. It definitely appears something hit the aircraft. There is a skid mark on the frame around the window.[1] Will be interesting to read if an investigative report is made public. [1]https://viewfromthewing.com/new-cockpit-photos-may-show-what-struck-the-united-737-injuring-a-pilot-and-sparking-space-debris-fears/ https://viewfromthewing.com/new-cockpit-photos-may-show-what...
- fragmede 1y agoInteresting, that link says it might just be hail.
- bronco21016 1y agoA lot doesn't add up from that article though. The writer mentions the window in question is the Captain's window. From the pictures, it appears to be the First Officer's window. Also, the writer mentions pock marks consistent with hail damage in other areas of the aircraft but I haven't found any images substantiating that. Hail is absolutely the most probably explanation, the article points to two other instances with similar outcomes. I think the doubt comes from the lack of evidence of hail or convective activity or other hail damage on the aircraft. Also, the pilot reportedly said he saw something coming at the aircraft.
- JCM9 1y agoMost journalists are pretty bad when it comes to covering aviation so I wouldn’t put much weight on the discrepancies. Half the time they can’t tell the difference between a jet and a Cessna 172. Seriously.
- potato3732842 1y agoReminds me of this gem: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6d/79/e9/6d79e9982b92c476e1d671f317003ec6--storm-shelters-journalism.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6d/79/e9/6d79e9982b92c476e1d671f31...
- ecommerceguy 1y agoWasn't there a significant Starlink deorbiting recently?
- sipofwater 1y ago"Something from “space” may have just struck a United Airlines flight over Utah" "“NTSB gathering radar, weather, flight recorder data.”": https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/something-from-space-may-have-just-struck-a-united-airlines-flight-over-utah/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/something-from-space-m... (arstechnica.com/space/2025/10/something-from-space-may-have-just-struck-a-united-airlines-flight-over-utah/)
- appreciatorBus 1y agoATC Audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRM5zgE13_s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRM5zgE13_s EDIT: looks like the audio starts when they are already arriving at SLC
- JackAcid 1y agoDude's arm looks like scabs and I don't see anywhere that claims they are related to the impact.
- sml156 1y agoCan you tell me why the left window appears to be held on with a really big paperclip.
- delfinom 1y agoHis arm is covered in sharpnel wounds from the windshield being shattered due to the energy of impact. That is how sharpnel wounds look like. There's a good chance he went to the hospital later to get the glass pulled out of his arm.
- yokuze 1y agoFrom the article: > “Apparently only one layer of the windshield was damaged, and there was no depressurization.” And from the photos, it looks like it was the outer layer. So, where would the glass have come from?
- mrguyorama 1y agoSpall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spall
- autoexec 1y agolooks like dried blood to me.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- russdill 1y agoCould this be from another plane on the same nav route but higher altitude?
- jbverschoor 1y agoOut of all planes, it had to be the 737 max
- conradev 1y agoOn track to be the most popular model for US domestic travel, replacing the older 737s
- cdelsolar 1y agoi remember i had a plane flight that was horrendously delayed once, and then finally when we hop on board they make an announcement about it being a 737 Max and I laughed, thinking they were joking...
- bombcar 1y agoThat’s why I only fly the 737 Pro Max.
- Stevvo 1y agoMy first guess would a bird. Bird strikes happen all the time; there are billions of birds. Next guess would be a drone; there are a lot more drones flying around than spacecraft.
- michaelcampbell 1y agoAt 36000'?
- hinkley 1y agoRuppell’s Griffon Vulture is the only bird clocked that high, but my understanding is that we’ve been moving estimates higher for a bunch of birds over the last couple of decades. Absence of proof and proof of absence and so forth. I think people have been paying more attention. That vulture looks like a big boy too. So not impossible. Edit: this bird is South American, adapted to the Andes, which is a bit of a hike to Colorado.
- throwawayffffas 1y agoUnlikely to be either it's too high. Drones that can fly that high are typically the size of a small aircraft. And there are no bird bits stuck to the plane, no blood either. It could be parts of a weather balloon, or small meteor fragments, or even something that came off another plane flying slightly higher, but that would probably have been discovered already. Could be space debris as well, more likely if there was a launch around the same time.
- fracus 1y agoIsn't the speed of descent of objects falling out of orbit so great they usually burn up before hitting the ground, and wouldn't that speed cause them to easily penetrate into the interior of the plane?
- mikkupikku 1y agoIf an object survives reentry far enough to be at airliner altitudes, it will have significantly slowed down already and probably be falling at or near terminal velocity. Of course it depends on the shape and density of the object.
- mr_toad 1y agoTerminal velocity for a meteorite is still thousands of mph. It’s going to hit like a bullet.
- cdelsolar 1y agoAnyone else think about that Asimov robot story with the "intuitive" robot "Jane"? She had discovered which stars were most likely to have planets around them with the right conditions for life and was flying back on an airplane with her human handler when it was hit by a meteorite.
- 0xbadcafebee 1y agoAliens flying drunk again
- JCM9 1y agoNot clear yet what happened but from the exterior photos it’s pretty obvious they struck something. Space debris isn’t implausible, although there are several other possibilities too.
- ChrisArchitect 1y ago[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45633191 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45633191
- neverkn0wsb357 1y agoIf this did happen to be space debris as a result of human activity then the likelihood that this becomes a more common occurrence is likely seeing how Kuiper and Starlink are looking to have somewhere around 42,000 satellites and it currently has around 8,000; Kuiper also has similar ambitions.
- mlindner 1y agoStarlink satellites demise upon re-entry though so they're not going to be the cause.
- kopirgan 1y agoThey were busy demising until the plane interrupted the demising?!
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> They were busy demising until the plane interrupted the demising?! Too low. Debris burns up in the mesosphere and upper stratosphere. Airlines cruise about halways down from there.
- ocdtrekkie 1y agoEven with that the odds of this have to be less likely than winning the lottery while getting bit by a shark that was simultaneously struck by lightning.
- panick21_ 1y agoOlder sats are more likely, they were designed with less eye towards burning up. But that also makes it less likely to happen.
- napierzaza 1y ago[dead]
- sandworm101 1y agoMy money is on drone. There are more drones up there than falling rocks. There are probably more classified drones up there than falling rocket parts. I suspect this aircraft collided with something far more terrestrial. Something with its transponder off. Any chinese balloons over denver at the moment?
- thayne 1y agoThe article itself says the object was probably a weather balloon, not space debris, and the title of the article is now "United MAX Hit by Falling Object at 36,000 Feet". Maybe the title here should be updated?
- jjwiseman 1y agoIt seems like the article has been updated: "Sources told AVweb Sunday that the focus of the investigation is on a weather balloon payload." This is far more likely than a meteor.
- LeifCarrotson 1y agoMore likely, but still spectacularly unlucky. Space is big, but the upper atmosphere is pretty big, too! I understand that there are a lot of planes and they cover a lot of miles, and there are a lot of weather balloons too... but each windshield is merely tracing a 40cm high by 150cm wide rectangle across an entire country, through an airspace 12km tall covering 10 million square kilometers. My son brings his glove when we go to a game for the local minor league baseball team in case of a foul ball or home run, we've spent a couple dozen hours in seats near enough to the action to give it a chance...but that glove has not yet intersected with the path of a baseball in an environment that's significantly more target-dense. What's the probability that the path of a plane windshield randomly intersects with a weather balloon payload? I would have said it's negligible, but apparently not!
- recursive 1y agoConsider how many flights have been taken. If you had taken your son to that many baseball games, you'd probably have a shed full of baseballs by now.
- bigbrained124 1y agoSo normally your wounds don’t scab over instantaneously, what is the real story here? Obviously the majority of satellites are actually balloons/sataloons.
- RyanOD 1y agoI didn't see any scabs. Wounds looked quite fresh to me.
- reorder9695 1y agoMost likely took the picture after landing the plane and sorting out paperwork, calling the company etc, that could be multiple hours no?
- 542354234235 1y agoThis conspiracy theory mindset is so interesting. How looking at that potato quality low-definition picture and thinking "they must be hiding the truth" and not "I am probably not getting a 100% accurate look at those wounds from this garbage image".
- throwawayffffas 1y ago> Whatever hit the plane, it was an enormously rare event and possibly the first time anything has collided with an aircraft at that altitude other than a projectile launched with that intended purpose. There it goes the big sky theory once again, someone let the guy know there were six mid air collisions this year alone.
- stevage 1y agoTitle is now "United MAX Hit by Falling Object at 36,000 Feet"
- ChaoPrayaWave 1y agoIf this is indeed man made space debris, who is responsible under current international rules? If it were to collide with a civilian aircraft and cause an air crash in the future, would there be an embarrassing situation where the culprit could not be found?
- theincredulousk 1y agoIf only the first layer of windshield was damaged how is the pilot getting hit by shrapnel
- jccc 1y agoFrom the first paragraph: Earlier reports suggested it could have been something from space but that seems unlikely since the velocity of anything that survived reentry would likely have caused substantial damage beyond a cracked windshield. The theory was likely amplified by the captain of the flight who reportedly described the object that hit the plane as “space debris.” Maybe the submitted headline isn’t justified?
- dghf 1y agoThe article says it's been updated. Possibly the submitted headline reflects the original version?
- jccc 1y agoWas wondering the same the moment I posted. Here’s what appears to be the prior version from archive.ph, which does align more with the submitted hed: Authorities are now considering whether a falling object, possibly from space, caused damage to the windshield and frame on a United 737 MAX over Colorado on Thursday. Various reports that include watermarked photos of the damage suggest the plane was struck by a falling object not long after taking off from Denver for Los Angeles. One of the photos shows a pilot’s arm peppered with small cuts and scratches. In his remarks after the incident, the captain reportedly described the object that hit the plane as “space debris,” which would suggest it was from a rocket or satellite or some other human-made object. Some reports say it was possibly a meteorite. Whatever hit the plane, it was an enormously rare event and likely the first time it’s ever happened. The plane diverted without incident to Salt Lake City where the approximately 130 passengers were put on another plane to finish the last half of the 90-minute flight. Apparently only one layer of the windshield was damaged, and there was no depressurization. The crew descended from 36,000 feet to 26,000 feet for the diversion, likely to ease the pressure differential on the remaining layers of windshield. Neither the airline nor FAA have commented. Would be nice to update the HN hed though.
- dang 1y agoArticle's original title ("Airliner hit by possible space debris") has been updated so we've made the same update above. Thanks!
- L_226 1y agoSpaceX is testing a weapons system for clandestine assassinations /s
- thehappypm 1y agoIs it possible that this was a bullet? A 50 cal bullet is estimated to reach 15,000 feet if fired straight up. But this is Colorado: in the most extreme scenario, standing atop Mount Elbert, you’re already at ~15,000 feet. Combine these two — and account for the dramatically reduced air resistance along the bullet’s path starting from high altitidue — you could conceivably get a bullet that high Some dope standing at high elevation blasting bullets into the sky in Colorado seems as plausible as a meteor
- seltzered_ 1y agoAn update to this, it sounds like there's a possibility it was a collision with a WindBorne weather balloon not space debris - see https://x.com/johndeanl/status/1980462264974209292 https://x.com/johndeanl/status/1980462264974209292 & (or https://bsky.app/profile/planet4589.bsky.social/post/3m3oeocbruk27 https://bsky.app/profile/planet4589.bsky.social/post/3m3oeoc... )