In Autumn of 2000, the experimental orbital research platform COVENANT was knocked out of orbit by an enigmatic object the size of a small apartment complex. Space Shutle Inspiration, docked but unmanned,
was caught in the event.
Nobody was onboard COVENANT at the time.
The wreckage landed several nautical south of the geographic northern point of the Earth. The object impacted on hard, frozen soil, spraying snow and ice for kilometers.
COVENANT disintegrated in the upper atmosphere. Inspiration was destroyed on impact. But the object was found to have remained mostly intact when viewed by satellite imagery.
That winter, a research team was sent to a base near the crash site to investigate.
In a mysterious incident costing millions in damages, a rail line headed to the site was leveled, the base was destroyed, and important data from the crash site was held from the public.
Sixteen years later, enough info has been declassified that the Captain has been permitted to show to the world the story of what happened there, from the different perspectives of him and his crewmates.