Ranchos teen stands by Job's Peak shuttle debris report

The search has been suspended for possible pieces of the doomed Columbia Space Shuttle on Jobs Peak.

However, the Gardnerville Ranchos teen, who alerted NASA officials and brought a military search team to Minden, is sure he saw something on fire on the peak soon after the shuttle passed over the area. He and his mother say they feel the search was ended too soon.

"I will think there is something up there until the day I die," said Lucas Schmersey, 17, son of Nancy Schmersey. "I'll stand my ground on that."

Pilots from the 129th Rescue Squadron of the California Air National Guard descended on the Minden-Tahoe Airport on Friday in response to Schmersey's call to NASA's Columbia Accident Investigation Board. A spokesman for the Air National Guard said the search was called off because pilots did not spot anything on the peak.

Schmersey hadn't been following the shuttle's progress, but soon after he saw a glowing object he learned of the tragedy.

"You get to where you take (shuttle flights) for granted," said the boy's mother. "We saw the news and he saw (the glowing object), so we thought it could very well be part of the shuttle."

Columbia broke up just 16 minutes before its scheduled landing Feb. 1, killing all seven astronauts on board. According to NASA, more than 1,000 pieces of shuttle debris have been recovered. Items found as far west as California are being analyzed to see whether they are from Columbia. As of Monday, no debris found west of Fort Worth, Texas, had been positively identified as coming from Columbia. Schmersey's report was the first from Nevada.

Schmersey likened the glow to a lava flow and said it was visible for about 15 seconds early Feb. 1. He waited and watched the spot for a few days through binoculars.

"It looked like a charred, black something, almost similar to the tiles," he said.

Tiles on the shuttle protect it from the heat generated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere.

Last Thursday, Schmersey contacted NASA, which instructed him to contact the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Deputy Ron Elges interviewed Schmersey and contacted field officers seeking shuttle debris, which prompted the Air National Guard involvement.

"There are a lot of dark rocks and with the snowfall, he was pointing to rocks and a dark formation," Elges said. "I was having to go with the theory to err on the side of caution."

Because of his age, Schmersey could not accompany the pilots to locate the debris.

Elges said they searched the fire lines on the east side of the peak.

"Even as close as we were, we were still using binoculars," he said.

They did not find anything during their hour-and-half search.

Schmersey and his mother were surrounded by TV camera crews at the airport and are not fond of the attention.

"I didn't expect it to be like this," he said. "I didn't realize it would blow up like this. I just wanted to make sure it was nothing."

Debris from the Columbia may be dangerously contaminated with toxic substances and cause serious injury if handled, according to NASA. Schmersey won't divulge the exact location on the peak.

"With all this going on, I am afraid of civilians going up there to find it themselves," he said.