Rocket Debris Found in Minnesota Cornfield, Experts Say

MORRIS, Minn., Oct 22 — A farmer combining corn in Scott Township, Stevens County, found a scorched metal object about 11 feet across lying among the stalks on Wednesday, Oct. 14, and experts say it is most likely part of a Chinese rocket, Ars Technica and UPI reported.

The Stevens County Sheriff's Office got the call that afternoon and sent deputies out to the field. What they found was not a lost hubcap.

"Upon responding, deputies confirmed that a large, metallic object, approximately 11-feet in diameter, presumably a space object, was present in the cornfield," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook.

The office said it was working with several state and federal agencies to identify the owner and plan for removal. The object was hauled out of the field the following day, a Thursday, and federal agencies are now looking into where it came from, UPI reported. Officials said it posed no danger to the public.

Local officials are not getting much more information than the rest of us. "We're not getting fed much information either and what info we do get is pretty cryptic," Sheriff Jason Dingman told the Minnesota Star Tribune, as quoted by UPI. He added that he thinks "somebody way up the food chain" knows what it is.

Space experts have a strong guess. According to Ars Technica, the evidence points to the upper stage of a Zhuque-2E rocket, built by the Chinese company LandSpace.

That rocket launched on Sept. 15 from northwestern China and released 10 satellites into orbit. Then its upper stage fired its engine to drop back out of orbit. It came down without completing even one full lap of the planet, about 75 to 80 minutes after liftoff.

People on the ground noticed. Social media posts that night showed streaks of fiery debris heading north over Kansas toward Minnesota, and the glow was visible from Wisconsin, Ars Technica reported.

The size is the clincher. The Zhuque-2E's upper stage measures 3.35 meters across, or 11 feet. That is the same width as the dome in the cornfield.

Still, nobody has officially claimed it. LandSpace has not publicly acknowledged the debris, so for now the rocket link is what experts say, not a confirmed fact. Rocket stages are normally steered to fall into the ocean, which suggests something about the disposal burn may have gone wrong.

There is a paperwork angle, too. Under international law, the country that launches an object into space is liable for any damage it causes on the ground.

The good news is that falling space junk almost never hurts anyone. No one has ever been seriously injured by it, though there have been a few cases of property damage, Ars Technica noted. Pieces this big rarely survive reentry at all, which is part of what makes this one unusual.

So the corn harvest in Stevens County this year came with one extra item that will not fit in a grain bin.

> What We Know
> - What: A scorched metal object about 11 feet across
> - Where: A cornfield in Scott Township, Stevens County, Minnesota
> - When: Found Oct. 14 during harvest; removed the next day
> - Likely source: The upper stage of a Chinese Zhuque-2E rocket launched Sept. 15, experts say
> - Confirmed by the builder? No. LandSpace has not acknowledged it.
> - Danger to the public: None, officials said

Reported by Ars Technica, UPI, Minnesota Star Tribune

Clown verdict: Shipping from China usually takes longer than 80 minutes.

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