Please don't pull the "I'm a physics major" crap as a crutch to support your dismissal of my argument - I understand physics well enough to know how gravity works, thank you. The debris in space is moving with enough velocity to not be pulled back to earth anytime soon, as the centripetal force its generating will reduce the effective "pull" of the earth to such a low point that it orbits the earth for a while before eventually being pulled in (or if it's going fast enough, eventually away from the earth).

But if you're so sure I'm wrong, then please explain to me please how gravity doesn't affect things outside of a planet's atmosphere? Explain how orbiting a planet at the right speed so that matching the centripetal force to the gravitational pull of the planet isn't a thing. Explain how, if massive objects distort space-time like a heavy ball on a sheet of cloth (I'm sure you've seen the demonstration), that a small object placed nearby wouldn't be attracted towards it?