Minnesota resident finds a jagged metal object with a burnt underbelly in a cornfield. Then deputies call it ‘presumably a space object’

A resident of Scott Township in Minnesota discovered a strange metal object in a cornfield on October 14, according to BroBible. The Stevens County Sheriff’s Office received the call around 3:30 p.m. and described the find as “foreign debris.”

When deputies arrived to investigate, they confirmed that “a large, metallic object, approximately 11-feet in diameter, presumably a space object” was sitting in the field. The object had jagged edges and what appeared to be a burnt underbelly, per BroBible.

The Minnesota Duty Officer was notified, and federal agencies responded to the scene. The sheriff’s office posted online that officials told them the public isn’t in any danger from the object.

State and federal officials are investigating the object

The sheriff’s office is working with several state and federal agencies to identify the object, notify its owner, and plan its removal from the field. As of publication, no additional details have been released about what the object is or where it came from.

Debris turning up in unexpected places isn’t unheard of, and severe weather can carry surprisingly large pieces of metal, as Oklahoma residents saw when a powerful tornado left twisted metal strewn across their neighborhoods.

Space debris is also becoming more of an issue as SpaceX and other companies put more satellites into orbit. Space reported that the growing number of objects in orbit raises the risk of debris falling to Earth, along with the possibility that someone could be seriously hurt or killed. Stray rocket hardware can also travel far from where it started, as seen when a SpaceX rocket stage struck the moon in August.

The internet has its own theories

Online commenters have floated two main theories. Some suggested the debris came from a tornado that reportedly passed through Minnesota a few weeks earlier, while others pointed to a SpaceX rocket launch from Florida around the same time as the discovery.

Because the object has sharp edges and appears to be a fragment rather than a complete piece, some commenters suspect high winds tore it from a larger structure on the ground and dropped it in the rural cornfield.

One commenter suggested that the object looks like a silo cap or a harvester cap, noting that caps can blow off silos in poor condition when fall winds pick up. Several replies agreed, though officials have not confirmed what the object is.

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