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Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey? The things that fall from space are called threads. The dragons take flight and attack the threads with flame before they can hit the ground and cause damage.

I read it years ago in school. I think it was set in a desert, and this crazy guy was stalking him. While he was climbing a rock to get away from him, the guy shot the kid in the hand in a way that would make it seem like he shot himself, since it didn't cause any lasting harm to the hand...