MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) – Sputnikfest is Saturday in Manitowoc.
The one-day festival brings people together to celebrate a historical event.
The 12th annual observance of a 20-pound piece of a Russian satellite that landed in the middle of a city street is taking place today.
The chunk of space fell next to the Rahr West Art Museum on September 5, 1962.
Museum Executive Director Greg Vadney says two police officers found it.
“They saw it in the road and they figured we have enough manufacturing here and it is probably just a piece of metal.”
He says the US Military had been tracking the satellite’s plunge.
“They knew that the Soviets had lost control, despite the Soviets saying they haven’t,” Vadney said. “They knew that it was going to land somewhere in Wisconsin.”
NASA swept into town and the piece of the satellite was gone that same day.
The festival includes music, food, a costume contest, Sputnik reenactment, rocket making, trivia and lightsaber duels.
The theme for the festival…Sputnik landed here, why don’t you?
