And in the second place,
this rocket proves nothing.
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."
