I think you're right - my curiosity about this is space junk comes down all the time. Why is this a big deal?
I think it’s because they think some of this one is actually going to make it through the atmosphere without burning up. Also, they won’t know until the last few hours where it might land and they have no control of the re-entry. When you think about it, landing in somewhere like Times Square or a heavily populated area would be a pretty big disaster if it actually gets through. Odds are against it though.