IN OUR VIEW | Strange Invaders?: Be careful should mysterious seeds show up in your mailbox

Remember the 1950s science fiction film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers?"

It was about alien seed pods growing replicas of humans and replacing them as part of a takeover of the earth.

The movie was widely seen as an allegory to communist brainwashing the minds of American citizens as part of their plan to do away with democracy.

Well, now some fear real life might be imitating reel life.

No, nothing as serious as an alien invasion. But strange packages of seeds have been showing up through the U.S. mail in several states, including Texas.

According to Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, about 200 residents in North Texas have reported receiving mysterious packets of seeds in the mail.

"We don't want people opening those up, don't put them in the mail, certainly don't plant them. Contact us. Let us pick them up. Treat them like they are radioactive, like they are Kryptonite," Miller told FOX 4 in Dallas.

Even though several agencies are investigating, no one seems to know just what the seeds are. The best guess, from postal markings, is they come from China and may be tied to a online false product review scheme called "brushing." Agriculture officials fear that, if planted, they could sprout an invasive species harmful to our native plant life.

So don't worry about these things creating a new you, like in the movie. And there have been no reports so far of such seeds in the Twin Cities. But since we can't say exactly where they might turn up or what they grow, play it safe should some seeds arrive unbidden in the mail.

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