Russian Rocket Hits Wyoming

Harmonious Botch wrote in with a CNN story that opens: "A spent Russian booster rocket re-entered the atmosphere Thursday over Colorado and Wyoming, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said. NORAD spokesman Sean Kelly said the agency was trying to confirm a report that a piece of the rocket may have hit the ground near Riverton, Wyoming, at about 6 a.m. Kelly said military personnel had not yet reached the scene. No damage was reported and the debris was not believed to be hazardous, NORAD said. Eyewitnesses reported seeing flaming objects in the sky at the time the rocket was re-entering, Kelly said."

Sensationalist title or what!?

[syousef]

Come on. Try Russian space debris hits...not rocket. It hasn't been (part of) a rocket in some time...

Oh wait, that'd actually be good journalism. Can't have that.

Re:Sensationalist title or what!?

[uber_geek9]

Exactly. Sensationalism pisses me off like nothing else. You can call the story whatever you like -- it's not going to make it a bigger deal just because you make it sound scarier.

But hey, it's only Slashdot. CNN's title was "NORAD looking for Russian rocket in Wyoming".

Re:How is it misleading?

[MyLongNickName]

"Anonymous coward will not stop molesting badgers"

Since the Anonymous coward never molested badgers in the first place, the above headline is correct. Simply because something is technically correct does not mean it is misleading. You might want to look at the difference between "mislead" and "lie" in the dictionary. Kind of reminds me of the RNC fund raising letter where "Bush cuts deficit 40% in two years". Factually correct, but does not mention that Bush caused the deficit in the first place.

Re:Bullshit!

[PeelBoy]

Wish I didn't already respond to this article because I still have mod points. The GP was kind of funny just because I can laugh at that kind of thing but the whole bush went to war because of oil thing is obviously (to anybody who has half a clue?) bull shit.. Let me know when the extra oil starts rolling in I'm looking forward to the day because then atleast we could fucking say we got SOMETHING out of the deal.. Don't you think?!

Re:Putin called a news conference

[Skidmarq]

Left your mic on did you? Nice reference! ;)

Re:How is it misleading?

[GimliGloin]

Agreed... A better way of putting it is that the term "hits" implies that the Russians were "aiming" for us. The term "falls in" implies that it was a mistake which is what it was...

John

Re:How is it misleading?

[dgatwood]

The truly misleading word here is not "hit". The misleading word is "rocket". Had it said "rocket fragment", it would not have been misleading or particularly sensationalized to say that it hit Wyoming. In much the same way, saying "a busload of thirty people died today" is not the same thing as saying "the driver of a busload of thirty people killed himself today". :-)

Could be worse. It could have said "Russian rocket explodes over Wyoming."

Re:missle defense system?

[c6gunner]

Why would you assume that NORAD wasn't tracking it?

Re:How is it misleading?

[davester666]

I believe the implication is that the rocket 'landing' in Wyoming is like landing in the forest. There's nothing in Wyomin to 'hit'. :-)

Re:Most misleading headline ever?

[saider]

It's not unreasonable to believe that it could have been a first strike. How many countries don't exactly like the US right now? How many have the budget to buy an old russian ICBM where it sits? Oh ya, quite a few. If they were to do such a thing, obviously Russia wouldn't be doing it, so we wouldn't (hopefully) return fire on Russia, but whoever the enemy is did just get a first strike in.

I'm glad we didn't nuke the planet over this. I have to wonder how many people were scrambling for their bunkers, while us civilians didn't hear anything about it until it made the news.

The rocket was a commercial launch that was announced and observed a few weeks ago. The booster stages are simply returning to earth. NORAD and amateur astronomers have been tracking this from the get-go. Just because _you_ weren't informed does not mean that it is reasonable to believe it was a first strike.