Possible Shuttle Debris Found Near Groveland

Shuttle debris in the Mother Lode? Possibly. An object that looks to be a piece of the doomed shuttle Columbia was found yesterday in the back yard of a home in Big Oak Flat.

Former Lockheed and NASA Shuttle tile developer Doug Kohl now lives in Twain Harte. He tells AM 1450 KVML radio after examining a photo of the object e-mailed to a Sacramento TV station — what was found could indeed be a piece of Columbia. “In looking at the picture, it looks as though it could be an authentic piece, a fairly degraded piece of shuttle tile” Kohl said this morning. Kohl tried to blow up the e-mail photo to get a more detailed look. “It did look like a piece that would be interesting for NASA to want to take a look at.”

He says folks in the Mother Lode should keep an eye out for unusual pieces that could be Shuttle parts and alert authorities. Kohl says it´s very likely the protective tiles from the shuttle began breaking away as the Columbia crossed over the Sierra region during re-entry early Saturday morning.

“Any piece that a person would find that they think is out of the normal or out of the ordinary, would be of interest to NASA at this point, so we shouldn€™t discount anything,” he said.