[spandau-guard]

This is a copy of the E Mail I sent to Fox yesterday an hour after the shuttle went overhead.
I observed the re-entry of the Columbia from my location in California (38,120lat) at 5.55 AM PST. Here is what I observed; when the shuttle was directly overhead there was a bright flash with an expanding circular field of small objects. A few seconds later there was a brighter flash visable through binoculars which appeared to originate from the left wing area on the shuttle. Most of northern California was cloudy at this time but there was a temporary hole above us when the shuttle flew overhead. There were more flashes as the shuttle approached the eastern horizon at which point the shuttle could no longer be ovserved. Both myself and my son observed the same events described. He was 10 miles east-southest of my location at the time.

[Quilla]

At the time you witnessed these events, didn't the shuttle astronauts still have communication abilities? I can envision them being unaware of say, tiles falling off. But you'd think they could hear whatever was causing the bright flashes - explosions maybe. On the other hand, I suspect the noise level when traveling 12,500 mph is incredible.

Thank you for posting what you witnessed. I am sure you experienced a feeling that something was terribly wrong. This is so sad.