Florida Highway Patrol launched into high alert this week after a barrage of 911 calls from motorists who swore they’d just spotted a truck hauling a full payload of missiles down the highway. “They were definitely concerned,” FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins told The Post.
The situation escalated quickly when a trooper, already locked and loaded with a description of a blue pickup traveling along Interstate 4, spotted the vehicle. The officer quickly moved in to intercept it.
The driver, Michael Nipper from nearby Tampa, said he wasn’t shocked about getting stopped. The rockets look dangerous - but aren’t military weapons. “I figured right away why they were pulling me over,” Nipper, 69, told The Post. “But I knew the rockets weren’t dangerous or illegal so I showed them to the officer and explained that they were hobby rockets.”
Model rockets are miniature versions of the real thing that people build and launch for fun, according to NASA. They’re made from lightweight materials like plastic or balsa wood, and the engines are pre-packaged and come with the kit. They typically fly between 300 and 2,500 feet and land with a small parachute.
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