Weird3 min(s) read
Minnesota farmer finds huge metal object in his field and nobody can tell him what it is
A mysterious object that officials have struggled to identify and believe could be a "space object" was found in Minnesota earlier this month.
A local farmer discovered the celestial piece of metal junk outside Scott Township while harvesting corn, the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office said.
Although the debris was a whopping 11 feet long, the farmer guessed based on the size of the corn that was growing underneath it that it had been in the field for at least six weeks before it was discovered.
Officials are working together to find out where the debris came from
According to local news outlet KGW8, local authorities identified the oversized object as “presumably a space object," which has serial numbers inscribed on it that could potentially lead to its owners.
Police, federal and state agents are currently working together to retrieve the metallic object from the field and locate its original owner.
Thankfully, authorities have confirmed that the huge piece of scrap metal poses no danger to the public.
In a statement, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said the item “has been secured and poses no danger to the public. The Department of State is working with interagency partners to determine the nature and origin of the debris.”
The piece of space junk could have been a Chinese rocket
While many people remain hopeful that the metallic junk is evidence of alien life, the technology news site Ars Technica reported that evidence points to the item being part of a Chinese rocket launched on September 15.
The missing rocket carried several satellites into space before it deorbited and fell apart over the US Midwest.
Usually, spacecraft are intentionally deorbited over oceans to avoid causing human injury or damage to infrastructure.
Ars Technica wrote that there is no current explanation as to why this rocket reentered Earth's atmosphere and broke apart over Minnesota and its neighboring states.
The company that owns the rocket has not confirmed or denied that the debris is from that launch.
So far, there have been no other reports of mysterious metal objects found elsewhere in the area.
Reacting to the news online, one social media user said sarcastically: "So we just find space trash in a random field and that's a normal Tuesday now."
While another person claiming to be an expert said: "Physicist here: at least one tracked piece of space junk falls back every day. This one found corn."