http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100223/sc_space/spacejunkmessgettingmessierinorbit

The idea of debris creating debris was put in motion by Donald Kessler, along with fellow NASA researcher, Burton Cour-Palais, back in 1978.

Their research suggested that, as the number of artificial satellites in Earth orbit increases, the probability of collisions between satellites also increases. Satellite collisions would produce orbiting fragments, each of which would increase the probability of further collisions, leading to the growth of a belt of debris around the Earth.

Now, decades later, that prophecy has been dubbed the Kessler Syndrome.