Sunday, June 22, 2008

UK Ministry Of Defence : "Don't Chase UFOs"

An unidentified flying object is reported to have "attacked" a police helicopter over Cardiff, Wales, earlier this month.

The helicopter pilots reported seeing a flying disc edged by lights. The official report on cited an incident with an "unusual aircraft" :

"The pilot banked sharply to avoid being hit, then launched into a high-speed pursuit," the tabloid reported.

"But he was forced to give up the chase as the helicopter's fuel ran low - and the UFO escaped."

The helicopter crew had described the object as "flying saucer-shaped and circled by flashing lights," it added.

That description was rather more dramatic than the official police version, which said: "South Wales Police can confirm its air support unit sighted an unusual aircraft."

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said...."it is certainly not advisable for police helicopters to go chasing what they think are UFOs."

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Pig Wears Wellington Boots...Because It's Afraid Of Dirt

The story is in the headline, but here's some more details from the UK Guardian :

Few pigs turn their snouts up at the chance to roll around in mud. But Cinderella the six-week-old saddleback has adopted a different motto - four wellies good, four trotters bad - after being diagnosed with mysophobia, a fear of dirt.

The piglet's owners, Debbie and Andrew Keeble, who run a farm near Bedale, North Yorkshire, were baffled by her reluctance to hit the mud when she and her siblings were let out into the fields. "When the batch ventured away from their mother, Cinders just stood at the edge of her sty shaking while the others explored," said Debbie.

Andrew, 42, said: "We scratched our heads a bit but then we thought, we wouldn't go in the mud bare-footed, so why not try some wellies?" The couple asked a designer friend come up with a bespoke pair of piggy boots. Cinderella's green wellies are made of rubber and have been created with no footwell so that her trotters slip straight in.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Can Sharks Get A Taste For Human Flesh?

The majority of shark attacks on humans are written off as mistaken identity. The shark thinks the swimming human is a seal, or something else it usually eats. But a recent spate of attacks have some scientists thinking that "packs of bull sharks are now actively hunting humans for the first time after a series of horriifying attacks in the waters off a popular resort."

The theory emerged after two surfers were killed and one badly injured in a month. A fourth swimmer is missing at the Mexican seaside town...

Locals fear one rogue shark is responsible but experts believe a pack of deadly bull sharks are actively targeting humans for the first time.

They think the 3m fish could have developed a taste for human flesh after devouring hundreds of corpses dumped into the sea by mobsters.

The beach at Zihuantanejo – near Acapulco and popular with international tourists – had not previously recorded a shark incident in more than 30 years.

And, with an annual average of only four fatal shark attacks globally, the fact that two people have died along the same stretch of coast within weeks has astonished international experts.

The Zihuantanejo deaths come halfway through what is already turning into a bumper year for shark attacks.

Zihuantanejo is now gripped by fear. Police have been guarding beaches and signs warn against going into the water.

Local businessmen, worried the deaths will devastate the tourist industry, hired fishermen to kill the sharks.

Mexican navy vessels were brought in last week to scour the waters for sharks.

Jose Leonardo Castillo, chief shark investigator for Mexico’s National Fishing Institute, said yesterday: “One theory we’re investigating is that a group of sharks have developed a taste for humans.”