So around 27 years ago, a local fisherman from this area was trawling off the coast of Florida. He snagged something in his fishing nets. it appeared to be a piece of aircraft. He took it home and kept it for 25 or 26 years and finally just gave it to another man here in Carteret County. That man gave it to my friend, Marty Shirley, our local barber here at Newport Barber Shop. Marty had it for a few days and I walked into his shop yesterday and he and I began talking about the piece. We inspected it a bit and he said "Steve, I've looked on line for similar pieces and I swear this looks like a piece of the Space Shuttle. I laughed at first but after closer inspections, I began to think it as well. I looked at him and said "I have a very good friend who works at NASA, Kennedy Space Center. I immediately called my friend Richard Griffin . I told him , he laughed. He said send him a pic. He immediately demanded several pics from several different angles. I then sent him a pic of some odd shaped circle stamps on the back. His response.....Holy $#!T ! He said they were NASA Inspections stamps and said" STEVE! Thank you for notifying me, you have a piece of CHALLENGER in your hands!!!!" He said stand by called back and said the Space Center was abuzz with the news. Marty and I's hearts were leaping at that point. He told us to secure the piece and that Nasa would be en-route here to NEWPORT to retrieve the piece. He informed us that NASA has an empty silo where they have reconstructed the Challenger from all of the wreckage they have reclaimed and this was an important piece to that puzzle! It was identified as a large front piece near the nose cone of the Challenger. Keep in mind, In January of 1986, 73 seconds after takeoff, this vessel exploded and was heard and seen around the world. I am damn proud of being partly responsible for bringing it back home to its rightful place. We talked with Michael J. Smiths brother and told him of the happenings, he was touched and very happy were were sending the piece home as well. There will be a huge report later today on TWC News 14. Don't miss it ! Me being a part of this discovery makes this Duke fan one excited man ! God bless all involved, family friends and Nasa on that faithful day. Humbled.
