Sixteen years ago today, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas, killing all seven astronauts on board. Pieces were found all over East Texas, but one Littlefield man discovered a piece on his land.

On Valentine’s day 16 years ago, Tommy Patterson said he found a three inch piece of Space Shuttle Columbia while working in his garden. 

“I looked down and in between my feet it looked like a piece of glass,” Patterson said. “It was real colored and I picked it up, looked at it and it looked like it had been burned.”

Patterson said he knew the piece was important so he put it down and got his wife, Jean. Together, they decided to call the local sheriff and it was not long before their suspicions were confirmed. 

It was a piece of the shuttle, he said. 

Even though they wanted to keep the piece, they said NASA asked for it back. 

“We still have people that ask if we have found anymore of the shuttle,” Jean Patterson said.

To honor those seven astronauts, the Patterson’s said they have placed an American flag in the spot where the piece was found. To this day, it is still the most western piece that was found from the shuttle.