You've already admitted having lost a number of your rockets.

You cannot prove conclusively...

that another one of them didn't start that fire. Yes, I can.

Are we to conclude, Mr. Hickam, that since leaving school,

you've not only become an expert in rocket science, but in the field of trigonometry?

I didn't say that I was a rock... Obviously, you learned more...

in the coal mines than you did in high school.

Let the boy talk. Go ahead, Homer.

Now, that fire was near Welch, just under three miles from our launchpad.

And at the time of the fire, the best that we could do was 1.2 miles...

which is exactly where we found that rocket, Mr. Turner.

See, Mr. Turner, that rocket fell for about 14 seconds, which means...

that it flew to an altitude of 3,000 feet...

according to the equation...

"S" equals one-half"A" "T" squared...

where "S"is the altitude, "A"is the gravity constant... or 32...

and "T" is the time it took for that rocket to come back down.

Velocity equals acceleration times time. Get him, Homer, get him.

Are you following this, Mr. Turner?

All right, we're all duly impressed.

But do you mind telling me, if you did not start that fire, who did?

What is it?

Whatever it is, i- it's ingenious. The fins are spring-loaded.

That isn't a rocket at all.

It's an aeronautical flare.

There's an airport here in Welch. It's right above where the fire started.

Mr. Hickam, report to my office as soon as we return to school.

You do intend to enter the county science fair, do you not?

Yes, sir, we do.

Well, if you intend to represent Big Creek,

you're gonna have to be enrolled as a student at Big Creek.

"Prodigenous."