posted 10-19-2026 06:51 PM               

Social media posts at the time showed streaks of fiery debris falling from the sky, heading north over Kansas toward Minnesota. The overnight spectacle was also visible on the western horizon from Wisconsin. ...

The incident was largely forgotten until the last few days, when a farmer in rural Minnesota discovered something unusual while combining his cornfield for the fall harvest. A circular metal object about 11 feet in diameter lay amid the forest of corn stalks in Scott Township, a community in west-central Minnesota.

What makes the debris in Minnesota unusual is its size — it's larger than most objects that survive reentry — and the fact that it likely originated from a rocket that fell from space the same day it launched. The upper stage of the Zhuque-2E rocket has a diameter of 11 feet, or 3.35 meters, perfectly matching the size of the object found in Minnesota.