AUGUSTA, Maine — An unidentified 7-pound metal object fell from the sky, nearly hitting a Maine State House police officer on Friday.
Investigators still don’t know where the metal sleeve weighing 6 to 7 pounds came from when it crashed down on a walkway just a few feet away from a Capitol Police officer.
According to The Portland Press Herald, Craig Donahue was walking outside the Maine State House in Augusta when the metal object smashed to the ground around 12:30 p.m.
“It definitely shocked him,” Capitol Police chief Matthew Clancy told The Associated Press. “He was walking back to the building and got quite a wake-up call.”
The Federal Aviation Administration thinks the part came from a wing flap of a large passenger jet. According to the AP, airlines were notified, and all planes landed safely that day.
Augusta is on the flight path of many international flights traveling between the United States and Europe.
The mysterious object has been posted in various communities on Reddit in an attempt to identify the thing. Some have suggested that it is a part of an aircraft’s landing gear, while others say it’s part of a dump truck.