Julie Chisholm thought her husband had left a piece of his new tractor out in the yard when she first discovered a 3-foot-long chunk of metal sticking out of the ground Saturday afternoon.

On closer inspection, it became clear that the panel, resembling a Nike "Swoosh" logo, came off of a plane, possibly a small aircraft. The pointed end was stuck in the lawn, indicating that it probably fell from a great height.

Chisholm and her husband, Dennis, live in the Livingston Mountain area northeast of Camas. She'd gone inside to work on a craft project for about an hour early Saturday afternoon after working out in her yard.

"I came back out, and there it was," she said. "It was embedded 4 to 5 inches in the yard." Chisholm guessed it fell around 12:30 p.m.

She called the police. A Clark County sheriff's deputy investigated and agreed that it looked like the part came off an airplane, probably a small private craft.

"It's a big impalement hazard," said Sgt. Tim Bieber as he held the part in his hands. "That would have hurt if it hit someone."

The chances of the part being anything but a piece of an airplane, he said, "were very, very slim."

Right now, the part doesn't appear to be off of any missing planes, he said. Sometimes it takes a while for missing aircraft to be reported, particularly small private planes.

"This could be a crucial piece of evidence," Bieber said.

A plane with parts falling off is also cause for concern, he said.

Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said his agency was looking into the possibility that the part came from a plane that has been reported missing or damaged. The FAA was not able to determine exactly what the part was by Tuesday afternoon.

Pilots aren't required to report missing pieces from their planes. It is also difficult to trace pieces from private planes.

For now, the part will be kept as evidence by the sheriff's office, Bieber said. He said FAA officials are expected to come pick it up and investigate.

Chisholm was concerned about the safety of the pilot and possible passengers.

"I just hope the aircraft was OK," she said.

Although planes frequently fly over their home, Bieber said the Chisholms' experience was unusual. He could not recall such a report in his 14 years with the sheriff's office.

"This is pretty rare," he said.

Chisholm agreed.

"It's kind of a strange situation," she said.