Yes, Pete, I have spent a lot of time on Santa Rosa Island and I look forward to spending still more time there. I retired as Channel Islands National Park Archaeologist in 2001, after sixteen wonderful years, and I get out there as often as I can.

About 1992 we were on the island doing field work. Ironically, we had spent the morning recording an underground WWII command center and returned to our base camp for lunch. As we exited our vehicle, there was a loud boom, and a very bright fireball falling into the sea to the west. Without a word, we all headed indoors, although the roof over our heads would not have been much protection against anything significant.

The commotion was an off course rocket launched from Vandenberg, intentionally exploded while nearly over San Miguel Island, the next park island to the west. A large chunk of the rocket engine landed on its south coast.

I have heard stories about another rocket that landed on the island in earlier years, and before rockets, there were airplanes coming to grief on the islands - a B17 on San Miguel, an Avenger near Anacapa, and for that matter,a commercial airliner three miles off Anacapa in the 1990's.