A rural Minnesota farm recently became the setting for what seems like the premise of Steven Spielberg's latest UFO blockbuster flick.
In mid-October, a farmer working his land came across a strange sight that would later be described as a "large, metallic object" looking just a tad out of place juxtaposed against the surrounding field of corn. The object, about 11 feet in diameter, was definitely not farm equipment, so the authorities were called in to take a look.
The subsequent investigation concluded that the hunk of metal almost certainly came from space, but don't panic about an alien invasion quite yet. Most experts suspect the object's origin is still terrestrial, meaning it's simply part of a rocket launched from Earth.
Here's everything
we know so far about this mysterious "space object" that crashed into a Minnesota farm.
Minnesota farmer discovers 'large, metallic object' in cornfield
On the afternoon of Oct. 14, the Stevens County Sheriff's Office in western Minnesota – about 150 miles northwest of Minneapolis – received a phone call that a farmer had stumbled across something strange in a cornfield.
Deputies who responded witnessed the debris, which the sheriff's office described in an Oct. 15 press release as "a large, metallic object." The hunk of metal, which appears charred in a photo shared on Facebook, was "presumably a space object" that had blazed through Earth's atmosphere, the release concluded.
State and federal agencies were called in to investigate the object further and assist the property owner in its removal, according to deputies.
"Agency officials have determined that there is no danger to the public due to this incident," the sheriff's office concluded.
What is the 'space object?' Some suspect Chinese rocket
But the release still left one glaring question: What exactly was it that crashed into a nondescript cornfield?
The mystery object, tagged with a serial number, was believed to have been lying undetected in the field for about six weeks, local outlets reported, including the Rapid City Post and NBC affiliates KARE 11 and 9News.
That information is partly what has led some experts to conclude that the debris is most likely part of an upper stage of a Chinese rocket that launched around that time. The Zhuque-2E rocket, which has an upper stage matching the diameter of the object in Minnesota, launched in mid-September to deploy a batch of satellites.
The upper stage, which is the section that flies orbit after stage separation, reentered over the upper Midwest, with its fiery debris reportedly being witnessed across the region, space news outlets Ars Technica and IFLScience both reported.
For now, though, an official explanation is pending.
Reached Oct. 20 by the USA TODAY Network, Stevens County Sheriff Jason Dingman said he expected to release additional information Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Falling space junk increasingly common
As rocket launches surge and a growing number of satellites populate Earth orbit, falling space debris has increasingly become a concern.
Most spacecraft that fall back to Earth reenter the atmosphere to either burn up or make controlled, expected crash landings in remote areas where no one will be harmed – as happened twice in March, for instance, when both a cargo vehicle and a NASA satellite fell to Earth.
Uncontrolled reentries aren't exactly common, and rarely pose a threat to people on the ground – but that doesn't mean they don't happen.
In July, for instance, strange metallic spheres that washed ashore in Australia were determined to be from a launch vehicle. And in May 2025, a Soviet Union-era spacecraft sent to explore Venus instead plummeted decades later into the Indian Ocean following an uncontrolled descent.
Even the moon is not immune to the dangers of falling spacecraft. In August, the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket crashed into Earth's natural satellite, leaving a fresh crater.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A 'space object' fell on a Minnesota farm. Here's what it could be
