The odds of getting hit by a falling piece of space debris from the falling research satellite this weekend are astronomically low. But the near miss that left a Sonoma County man unscathed last Friday was statistically impossible.

Jim Hayes (far right) holds the broken wheel from his dirt bike, after it was struck by the yellow rocket section falling from the sky. Although it's not apparent in this picture, the rocket body was also compacted by the impact to a little more than half of its original length. Below, a closer view of the mangled bicycle wheel.