6.25.2007

Old News: Irony v. Anomaly

Careening parade car kills four in crowd

June 17, 2007

SELMER, Tenn. – A drag-racing vehicle lost control during a parade and spun into a crowd of bystanders yesterday, killing four adults and injuring up to 15 people, authorities said.

Investigators were trying to determine what caused the vehicle to careen into the crowd at the Cars for Kids charity event in Selmer, about 80 miles east of Memphis.

Scott Henley of Selmer said the vehicle started burning off its tires, then began to fishtail and slammed into a light pole before spinning around into the audience.

Associated Press


Secret military rocket has mishap

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A rocket carrying an intelligence-gathering payload for the Pentagon suffered a technical problem after its launch, officials said.

They were confident yesterday that its secret mission would be performed.

The Atlas V rocket was launched Friday morning, hauling a payload from the National Reconnaissance Office, a division of the Department of Defense that builds and operates spy satellites.

The reconnaissance office said Friday night that the launch was successful, but the rocket's Centaur upper stage later had a “technical anomaly which resulted in minor performance degradation.” Officials did not elaborate and have not said exactly what the rocket was carrying or how it would be used.

Associated Press