90% of the pagers in the United States are now dead because the primary
satellite has spun off its orbit. They estimate it will take several
hours to realign the antennas to another satellite (used by the other 10%).
Police and emergency services folks have been warned not to rely on
service until things get normal again. The satellite also carried
broadcast feeds for some of the TV networks.
The theory is that the satellite was hit by some "unknown flying object",
causing it to break geosynchronous orbit (or at least spin+wobble in
a way that breaks communication).
.....Roy