A Michigan woman said that a device launched by Samsung into space last week crash-landed on her rural property in Michigan on Saturday.
The “Space Selfie” device, which the company said aimed to capture images “using a unique view of planet earth as the backdrop,” was found by Nancy Mumby-Welke and her husband on Saturday morning after they heard a loud crash outside their home in Gratiot County.
As the couple investigated, she told NBC News, “We realized it had fallen from the sky. It looked like a satellite.”
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Samsung confirmed in a statement that the device “came back down to earth,” though the company described its descent as an “early soft landing in a selected rural area” that was “planned” because of weather conditions in the United States.
“No injuries occurred and the balloon was subsequently retrieved,” Samsung said. “We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Mumby-Welke said she didn’t know what the device was. As she and her husband investigated, they noticed two logos on the machine, she said — one that was Samsung’s and another for Raven Industries in South Dakota, where the device was reportedly launched from.
Mumby-Welke said an internet search later revealed that the device was part of a promotional campaign with actress and model Cara Delevingne.
A few hours after the crash, Mumby-Welke said, someone from Raven Industries collected the wreckage but offered no details about the device or what had happened.
“They didn’t say anything,” Mumby-Welke said. He “told us he wasn’t at liberty to talk about it.”
“Just imagine what could have happened if someone had been out there,” she added.
The device reportedly included a high-altitude balloon, spanned half the length of a basketball court and was supposed to remain in space until Oct. 31.