A couple in Merrill, Michigan were rudely awakened over the weekend when a four-legged aluminum-wrapped device with attached solar panels fell from the sky onto their farm.
According to the Gratiot County Herald, the device had Samsung logos and the words “Space Selfie” written on it and it was still buzzing when Nancy Welke documented what happened on Facebook.
The contraption was discovered by Nancy’s husband Dana when he was preparing to let the horses out at around 8:45 a.m. on Saturday.
Outside, Welke found a four-legged object with an aluminum foil-wrapped box and solar panels attached to the top of it. Inside the box were two large cameras and one Samsung cellphone, according to Welke. The contraption had several Samsung plaques on it and wording on the sides of the box read “Space Selfie.” It was still humming and flashing when Welke decided to share the strange event on Facebook.
It turned out to be a “pseudo satellite” that Samsung was using as part of its “SpaceSelfie” campaign. The satellite that ended up in the Welke families yard was launched in Iowa the previous day.
“Earlier today, Samsung Europe’s SpaceSelfie balloon came back down to earth,” the statement from a Samsung spokesperson said. “During this planned descent of the balloon to land in the U.S., weather conditions resulted in an early soft landing in a selected rural area. No injuries occurred and the balloon was subsequently retrieved. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.”