THE US Air Force has admitted that it's got a large spy satellite overhead that is dead and expected to fall out of orbit and impact the earth's surface in late February or early March, the Associated Press reports.

The satellite, which is designated as US 193, was launched in December 2006 but suffered a complete computer failure, lost power and can't be controlled.

The head of the US Air Force Northern Command, General Gene Renuart, told the AP that the satellite is so large and heavy that some parts of it likely won't burn up during reentry and will probably hit the earth's surface. "We're aware it is a fairly substantial size. And we know there is at least some percentage that it could land on ground as opposed to in the water," he said. He added, "...it looks like it might re-enter into the North American area."

Or just about anywhere else on earth, for that matter. General Renuart reportedly cautioned that they won't have "much detail" on where or when it will crash until it begins to move through the atmosphere and break up. In other words, the Air Force can't really predict where this satellite might come down.

John Locker, a British amateur satellite watcher, took video images that show the satellite to be about 13 to 16.5 feet long. He believes the satellite weighs up to 10,000 pounds. According to Locker and other amateur satellite watchers, it's currently at about 173 miles altitude and dropping at a rate of about 1,640 feet per day. The satellite won't begin its visible reentry into the atmosphere until it's only 59 miles above the surface, after which it will take only about 30 minutes until impact, according to Ted Molczan, a Canadian satellite tracker.

The US Air Force isn't publicly saying that this satellite could fall to earth just about anywhere. But that seems to be the case.