A Patriot missile has landed on a farm in Qatar after being accidentally fired from a nearby US military base in the country.
No one was hurt in the incident and the US military said on Tuesday that it had launched an investigation into how the event occurred.
"We're investigating the incident, which happened last night," Holley Silkman, a spokeswoman at the US base, said.
"Those things are not supposed to accidentally discharge," Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said. "It was not supposed to happen."
According to reports, the missile exploded in mid-air, scattering debris over the farm, which is situated in the desert north of As-Sailiyah.
A Qatari military police vehicle was stationed at the entrance to the farm and reporters were refused access to the site, about 20km southwest of Doha, Qatar's capital.
Qatar, a member of the pro-Western Gulf Co-operation Council, hosts the US army's Central Command which directed the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
The Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system used by the US military and several of its allies, including Israel.
The US military has two bases in Qatar, As-Sailiyah and Al-Udeid. The latter is located in the desert further south of the capital.