A strange story is developing in various places around the planet tonight..

Various local affiliates across different cities in multiple states are reporting that people are receiving packages in the mail. Unsolicited.. NO orders. No expectations.

According to reports, the packages are coming from China and they contain… Seeds.

Yes.. seeds.

The mystery is what the seeds are and why they are being mailed.

THE BEEHIVE STATE

This is how a FOX Affiliate in a town of Tooele Utah reports it:

Lori Culley, who lives in Tooele, said she was excited to find two small packages in her mailbox on Tuesday. Although most of the writing on the outside was in Chinese, the label indicated there would be earrings inside.
“I opened them up and they were seeds,” Culley said. “Obviously they’re not jewelry!”
Culley couldn’t understand why she would be receiving mislabeled seeds from China in the mail, but at first she didn’t think much of it.

According to reports, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food will likely team up with Customs and Border Protection agents to investigate..

The report goes on..

Culley said she was surprised to learn the same thing has happened to “at least 40 people” who either publicly commented or privately responded to her post. Most of them live in Tooele.
Now Culley wonders how many people might have been so curious about the seeds that they decided to plant them.
“There was an article that I found in the UK saying this has been happening over there, and they are bad seeds, they are invasive,” Culley said. “I hope that it’s nothing too serious… don’t throw them in the garbage. Don’t plant them. Don’t touch them.”
Employees with the Utah Department of Agriculture encouraged anyone who received mysterious seeds in the mail to please give them a call so they can pick up the mail for further investigation.
“I mean there’s even a possibility it could be a drug or something!” Culley said. “It just smells – it doesn’t sound right.”

LAZY SEEDLINGS

Actually lazy reporting.

NEWSWEEK also picked up the story from Utah.. And sadly they did little independent journalism, they most copied and pasted the same FOX 13 article that I copied and pasted portions of.The difference was I credited FOX and block-quoted their info.. something ‘journalists’ don’t even have the dignity to do anymore.

Nonetheless, the NEWSWEEK article brought more widespread attention to the story over the past several hours.

But it also goes to show the copy-paste culture we suddenly find ourselves in!

All of these news articles and pasted within citations say that main seed receiver, CULLEY, found news articles from England stating that seeds were also being sent to people there.

But no one took the time to look further into this!!!

OH but.. Snooezeweek said they contacted the Better Business Bureau and the Utah Department of Agriculture for further comment on the mysterious mail received in the state. Even though the FOX 13 article had a full statement from the BBB!

LEAVE IT TO THE ANTHRACITE BLOCKHEAD!

No worries! We will do some independent research that “reporters” are afraid to do..

The seed story is too interesting ignore.. and take some time on..

VIRGINIA

Here is an image of what the seeds look like when they come in the mail:

And due to real true searching, we discovered that seeds are not only being received in Utah, but also now Virginia!

Officials from Old Dominion state are warning that the seeds could be an invasive species not known to the United States.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued this press release on July 24, 2020:

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has been notified that several Virginia residents have received unsolicited packages containing seeds that appear to have originated from China. The types of seeds in the packages are unknown at this time and may be invasive plant species. The packages were sent by mail and may have Chinese writing on them.
Please do not plant these seeds. VDACS encourages anyone who has received unsolicited seeds in the mail that appears to have Chinese origin to contact the Office of Plant Industry Services (OPIS) at 804.786.3515 or through the ReportAPest@vdacs.virginia.gov email.
Invasive species wreak havoc on the environment, displace or destroy native plants and insects and severely damage crops. Taking steps to prevent their introduction is the most effective method of reducing both the risk of invasive species infestations and the cost to control and mitigate those infestations.

Comments to the Virginia post state that the seeds look like buckwheat or Morning Glory. Others are joking that it could be RADIATION! Or evil seeds that could develop into people eating monsters..

Yes.. sarcasm online is great.

But … it does not eliminate the interesting question: Why are so many people getting seeds without asking for them?

BAYOU SEEDS

The strange tale of seeds has spread to Louisiana..

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) was notified that a resident in St. Rose received an unsolicited package of seeds, originating from China..

Just like other reports, this one is the same: The shipping label says the package should contain earrings, but instead, the recipient got seeds.

EVERGREEN SEEDS

The Washington State Department of Agriculturehas also issued a statement only hours ago about seeds residents in that state are apparently getting in the mail:

We have received reports of people receiving seeds from China that they did not order. If you receive them – don’t plant them.

ACROSS THE POND

The weird seed story seemed to start days ago in the UK..

From the DAILY STAR on July 18:

Many of the gardeners were baffled after they received the unwanted deliveries, which were not paid for, which were marked as “petals” or “ear studs”.
It was claimed this could have been done in order to avoid custom checks.

Government officials said they had been made aware of the bizarre case and it is understood at least one police force has been notified.
Gardeners are warned not to plant the seeds if they received them in case they are an invasive non-native species.

Reports indicate that “hundreds of people” in the UK received packages from China with seeds…