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Oak Creek — Tom Bleuer knew the bright light he watched zoom over the Flat Tops early Thursday morning wasn't a UFO by the way it was acting.

"It was going so slow that at first I thought it was a jet going into Hayden with its lights on," he said. "When I realized the light was bigger and brighter than a landing light, I pulled over."

What Bleuer witnessed from 6:14 to 6:16 a.m. Thursday was a piece of a spent Russian SL-4 rocket booster entering the Earth's atmosphere. The debris was visible over parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, North American Aerospace Defense Command officials said Thursday afternoon.

"It was real exciting," Bleuer said. "I'd never seen anything like it in my life. It was interesting, to say the least."

Bleuer was driving to work north on Colorado Highway when he spotted the bright light coming through a patch of clouds. He described the debris being tailed by several different colors "almost like a fluorescent sparkler but much bigger."

The debris, which may have landed somewhere in Wyoming, was left over from a commercial satellite launch on Dec. 27, 2006, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sean Kelly, a NORAD spokesman.

"The rocket was sent up to put up a French satellite and this was just one of its stages to come back down," he said.

NORAD, U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Air Force officials were aware the debris was going to enter the atmosphere, Kelly said.

Officials in Riverton, Wyo., reported a piece of the rocket had landed there, although NORAD had not confirmed that report late Thursday afternoon. Local and state officials are not obligated to report such findings, which is why it may be difficult to determine where, if any, of the debris landed, he said.

It is highly unlikely any of the debris would remain after burning upon re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere. Space debris enters the atmosphere every day, although it usually occurs over the Earth's oceans, which cover most of the planet, Kelly said.

"Something like this happens about 200 times a year and this was probably the one time (this year) it will happen over the U.S.," he said. "It's like a solar eclipse - you don't see it very often."

NORAD was bombarded with calls from concerned Colorado residents wondering what was lighting up the sky, Kelly said.

"We didn't get many 'Is this a UFO?' calls, it was more, 'What is this?'" he said.

Officials have determined the re-entry is complete and don't expect to see more of the spent Russian rocket, he said.

-To reach Alexis DeLaCruz, call 871-4234 or e-mail adelacruz@steamboatpilot.com