FOSSTON, Minn. — The first reports of something amiss in the wheat fields east of here came early Sunday from barking dogs and bawling cows, but no livestock is missing — no people, either — so locals seem inclined to doubt that alien spaceships made a stop at Dean Sorgaard’s place.
Still, after a UPS driver passing through the area relayed sightings of mysterious “crop circles” to Fosston Mayor Jim Offerdahl, the mayor drove out to check for himself.
“I’m no expert,” Offerdahl said, trying to sound both skeptical and open-minded, “but either somebody was out having some fun or we were visited by someone from another galaxy.”
Teenage pranksters, maybe? Inspired perhaps by the recently released X-Files film?
“The landowners told us that the dogs were barking and the cows were going crazy, braying in the middle of the night,” he said. “That was about 2 a.m. Sunday.”
Whoever or whatever landed or partied here, they left the wheat changed in one way — lowering the potential yield on these acres by a few bushels. And with the price of wheat these days, it could be a felony.