On Thursday evening January 16 at 5:40 pm, I looked up at the pale twilight sky after the sun set but before darkness brought out the stars. A friend who tracks rocket launches from the US had told me to go out and look for a rocket that would be passing overhead. I had seen these before–a blurb in the sky trailed by a bright orange flare, almost like a comet but not as long. But on this evening I didn’t see anything. My friend said to be patient.

Suddenly, scores of bright stars followed by wavy white, yellow and orange streaks appeared over the horizon and filled the sky. I tapped the video button on my iPhone and pointed it overhead to track what at first looked like a massive fireworks display. I was too much in the zone and the moment to figure out what was happening. Only after the streaks passed over did it dawn on me that this must have been the rocket and that something had gone terribly wrong.

Terribly wrong indeed! The SpaceX rocket launched out of its South Texas Site had in fact blown up, and I was watching the burning debris fall back down to earth. It was at first a thrill to see, as it was for others who had witnessed this phenomenal explosion. But the excitement quickly turned to deep concern about the debris striking anyone or causing any damage.

Amazingly, no one was hit in Turks & Caicos. Surprising, because people found lots of rocket pieces all over the islands of Provo and South Caicos, especially on the beaches and in the sea. Reports of fallen debris came from Haiti, 130 miles to the south, as well. It didn’t take long for the Turks & Caicos government to call on the UK aviation authorities to find out what was going on from the FAA, which is the regulator of US airspace that recently included launches into space. The FAA quickly suspended Space X flights until an investigation is completed. It should be pointed out that, as the falling debris was spreading through the atmosphere, several airline flights were diverted from the zone of danger. And that included an Iberian Airways flight from Madrid crossing the Atlantic that had to call a May Day emergency landing in San Juan, Puerto Rico because it was running low on fuel. One can only imagine the disaster had a plane been hit and killing two or three hundred people.

So, what are to make of all this? Specifically, what right does SpaceX have to put our islands and this part of the Caribbean region at risk? These rockets are experimental and always stand a chance of blowing up in the sky or at the SpaceX launch site near the city of Brownsville and the border with Mexico. And when the rockets do explode, as they did on the early evening of January 16, the toxic fallout is immediately apparent– polluting a fragile environment and potentially injuring or killing people in the air or on the ground. Clearly, the launches in this direction need to be stopped.

Future postings will delve into the dangers posed by this rocket company that happens to be owned (50%) by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. Unlike the rest of us here, he stands to benefit tremendously at our expense. Supporters of SpaceX rocket launches blather about balancing the grandiose quest (and ego trip) of space exploration with necessary risks. Which is another way of saying the collateral damage of you people in the way matters little. I beg to differ and challenge the entire premise.