Officials are investigating a commercial plane that was struck by a mysterious object while flying over Moab, Utah, on Thursday, October 16. Though they have yet to confirm what the impactor was, the captain of the flight reportedly described it as “space debris.”

United Airlines flight 1093, a Boeing 737 Max 8, was flying above 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) en route from Denver to Los Angeles when an object struck its windshield. In a statement to Gizmodo, United said the flight was carrying 134 passengers and six crew members and confirmed the windshield was damaged in the collision.

The plane was safely diverted to Salt Lake City, where passengers later boarded another flight to Los Angeles. There have been no official reports of injuries, and United Airlines did not address Gizmodo’s questions regarding this matter. However, unverified images associated with the incident seem to indicate that a pilot sustained cuts to his arm.

Gizmodo reached out to the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration for more information but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Too early for solid answers

Unverified images of the damaged plane show that an object hit the upper-right corner of the windshield, cracking the glass and damaging its metal frame. The windshield is made of multiple layers of glass with laminate in between, and according to AVBrief.com, only one layer was damaged. This reportedly prevented the windshield from shattering completely, allowing the cockpit to maintain its cabin pressure.

On October 16, 2025, United Airlines flight UA1093, a Boeing 737 MAX, had to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City after its windshield was cracked by an unknown object while flying from Denver to Los Angeles. One pilot sustained arm injuries, and while the exact cause is… pic.twitter.com/ByXPRyOjXZ

— Ranger H (@RangerH338) October 19, 2025

In a post on X, the NTSB said it is investigating the incident to determine exactly what happened. The windshield has been sent to the board’s laboratories for examination, and the NTSB is also gathering radar, weather, and flight recorder data. Until the investigation is complete, we can only speculate about what caused the collision.

Could the object have come from space?

According to AVBrief.com, unnamed sources told AVweb on Sunday that the focus of the NTSB investigation is on a weather balloon payload, but Gizmodo was unable to verify that statement. Other reports have suggested the object could have been space debris, a meteorite, hail, or even a bird.

According to The Weather Network, conditions were perfectly clear as the plane flew over Utah on Thursday, suggesting hail was not the culprit. The bird-impact hypothesis is also unlikely, as only a few species of birds are capable of flying above 30,000 feet and none are native to the U.S.

The object could have been a weather balloon, a meteorite, or a chunk of space debris, but without knowing the impact velocity, it’s impossible to say for certain whether these objects could have caused the type of damage shown in the photos.

While studies have warned that falling space debris poses a growing threat to aircraft, the number of meteorites that strike Earth each year still far outweighs the number of human-made objects that survive re-entry through the atmosphere. Thus, a meteorite is the more likely culprit.

Again, this is all pure speculation. Hopefully, as the investigation proceeds, officials will reveal more details about this bizarre incident.