Accidental discoveries Memes

History books: "Sputnik 1 was the first object in space." Nuclear physicist at a conference: "Actually, during the 1957 Pascal-B underground nuclear test, a 900kg steel manhole cover was likely launched at six times escape velocity, making it both the first human object in space and the fastest man-made object ever. The camera only caught a single frame of it before it vanished." The manhole cover was never found. Somewhere in the galaxy, an alien civilization is probably studying a mysterious metal disc with "Property of US Government" stamped on it.