Sprite seen from ISS. Image: NASA
On June 5, 1989, a NASA weather balloon was launched from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility outside of Palestine, Texas. The short flight was normal enough as the balloon passed safely above a nearby thunderstorm, eventually climbing to 120,000 feet. With no warning, the balloon released its payload, which, after two minutes of free-fall, crashed into a farmer's field at a speed of 700 miles per hour. Eighty miles away, at Possum Kingdom Lake, the balloon itself had a softer landing, albeit one that left a lonely fisherman thinking he'd somehow incurred the wrath of god (really).
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