A man from Arkansas tried planting mysterious seeds included in packages that seemed to have come from China to see what grows from them. The packages were sent to thousands of Americans across the country, and experts are urging citizens to avoid allowing them to grow.
According to the New York Post, Doyle Crenshawn, a resident of Booneville, told reporters that he and his family planted the mysterious seeds just to see what would happen if they grew.
Mysterious white fruit
The plants that grew from the seeds are producing large white fruits that look similar to squash coming out from orange flower flowers.
Crenshawn said he came back and checked on the plants every two weeks and gave them Miracle-Gro and watched them grow rapidly.
The man had planted the mysterious seeds before the repeated warnings of United States agriculture experts. The statements cautioned residents to avoid placing the seeds on the ground as they could be harmful or invasive species that could threaten the local ecology.
Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Scott Bray said their main concern is if the seeds come from an invasive-pest aspect. These sorts of plants could include invasive weed, an invasive insect pest, or some kind of plant disease.
Across all 50 states of the United States, many citizens have received packages containing similar mysterious seeds. Some have been labeled as jewelry and have confused the majority of what they actually are.
The deliveries came in little sealed clear plastic containers an/d placed inside regular-sized light gray or beige envelopes-the packages circulated across the United States beginning last month.
Crenshawn received a package that was labeled studded earrings with a shipping address from China. The man and his family thought the item was strange.
Official agricultural warnings
Despite not knowing the exact origin or sender of the mysterious packages, US agricultural experts suspect that it could be a form of "brushing scam." The fraud is where people received products they never ordered as the senders post fake reviews of the items in an attempt to boost their ratings on online selling platforms such as Amazon.
Agriculture officials have continued to warn citizens of planting the seeds and call their local agencies so they can be picked up and safely stored.
While Crenshawn did plant the seeds before the warnings were given out, the exact nature of the plants that grew from them remains a mystery as agriculture officials are continuing their investigations, as reported by BGR.
In a statement, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it is managing efforts to retrieve the mysterious packages of seeds. The agency is advising citizens to hold on to the seeds they received, including the mailing label until a staff of the agricultural department comes to pick them up.
The incident comes amid an already stressful situation with the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown procedures still in effect, along with multiple jobless surges and the end of financial support from the government.
The packages have caused a new fear to strike into the nation that is being whittled away by the deadly COVID-19.
