The predictions of Walt Brown

I think what he doesn't understand is that heat and kinetic energy are almost the same thing.

A skydiver's body exerts atmospheric drag which retards his velocity. The maximum speed of a falling body - called "terminal velocity" - is related to the weight of the body and the atmospheric drag it exerts due to it's surface area; which is obviously how parachutes work.Outside of the atmosphere objects accellerate without hitting a terminal velocity; when they re-enter, the atmosphere exerts drag and pressure on the object. This is why the Space Shuttle heats up on re-entry.The speed of skydivers has absolutely nothing to do with this issue because the objects we're talking about don't have the weight/drag ratio of skydivers.