I was in my bed reading a book when I heard the back door close. It was after bedtime on a weeknight and I was supposed to be asleep. I don’t recall if my mom was in bed or working at the time, but my dad had been out having a couple beers, and when I heard the back door close, I knew I was going to be in trouble if I was caught awake after bedtime, so I quickly reached over and clicked off the bedside lamp.

Troy Larson

Troy Larson is a father, author, and photographer originally from Minot, North Dakota, now residing in Fargo.

If you were to ask my mom when was the first moment she worried that I might be headed down the wrong path, maybe to a life of crime, she would have a couple events to choose from. She might tell you about the time in the summer before I entered 3rd grade when I decided to play with fire.

Troy Larson

Troy Larson is a father, author, and photographer originally from Minot, North Dakota, now residing in Fargo.

In the summer of 1957, a just-founded independent film company shot their first feature film in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the small communities of Downingtown, Phoenixville, and several others. The movie was intended to be a low-budget scream feature to satisfy teenage drive-in audiences, and the title changed at various points in its development — it was originally to be known as The Molten Meteor, with the filmmakers later deciding The Glob would be a good title. Eventually it became the title most of us recognize today — The Blob.

Troy Larson

Troy Larson is a father, author, and photographer originally from Minot, North Dakota, now residing in Fargo.

It was Christmas of 2016 when my wife, Rebecca, bought me an Ancestry DNA kit. She’s a genealogy nut and knew I was interested in tracing my family tree one day. In all honesty, I didn’t think I would come up with much because my family background is rough.

Troy Larson

Troy Larson is a father, author, and photographer originally from Minot, North Dakota, now residing in Fargo.

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In the early morning hours of October 24, 1968, two alarms sounded in the Oscar 1 Launch Control Center. The alarms were OZ, outer zone, and IZ, inner zone, perimeter alerts at the United States Air Force’s Oscar 7 missile silo, down the highway from the Launch Control Center. While OZ alerts were frequently tripped by wildlife at facilities like Oscar 7, IZ alarms were considerably more rare, and simultaneous signals on both systems were nearly unheard of. It was a strong indicator that someone was trespassing on the launch site of one of the world’s deadliest weapons, a Minuteman missile with a nuclear warhead. The Oscar Flight Security Controller, Staff Sergeant William Smith Jr., immediately dispatched a Security Alert Team to investigate.

Troy Larson

Troy Larson is a father, author, and photographer originally from Minot, North Dakota, now residing in Fargo.

Did you know North Dakota is home to an ancient impact crater? Geologists, and many in the oil industry, have known about Red Wing Crater for decades, but I didn’t know anything about it until I searched “North Dakota impact craters” on a whim one day and discovered a fascinating story.

Troy Larson

Troy Larson is a father, author, and photographer originally from Minot, North Dakota, now residing in Fargo.