A UFO sceptic was left terrified and running away so quickly he twisted his ankle, after seeing a mysterious craft and an otherworldly figure in Exmouth’s aptly-named Phear Park.

A drawing by Roy Shaw of the UFO

Retired engineer Roy Shaw was taking a night-time stroll with his dog, Sydney, when the close encounter happened.

He said: ‘The object was round, about 30ft in diameter and 100ft long, with blue and red flashing lights on its perimeter.

‘It appeared to land at the top end of the park by the bowling green. My dog started to growl when what I can only describe as a white shape came towards us.

Roy’s picture of the ‘white shape’ that approached him

‘It was about 4ft high and seemed to be translucent and went very slowly towards us. I was transfixed because it made a droning noise, which sounded like “my, my”.’

Devon UFO expert Nigel Wright said: ‘This is a close encounter of the third kind – encountering an occupant of a UFO in close proximity to the craft. This is a really vital sighting.’

But, Mr Shaw said he remained a sceptic and was at a loss to clarify Saturday’s incident.

[via: metro.co.uk]

Thanks to Original poster

Popularity: 2%

Tom Phillips – 10th February, 2010

Dogs are well-known for enjoying the simple things in life – notably chasing cats and eating meat. But that’s not the case for unfortunate Joey, a dog who is allergic to cats, meat, and pretty much everything else except potatoes and porridge.

Joey, an Alsatian-Collie crossbreed, gets a nasty rash if he eats meat or chases a cat. His allergy is also brought out by activities as diverse as running through grass or jumping into water.

Now his owners, Lisa McCormack and Scott Muirhead, feed him a diet of nothing but potatoes and porridge – as they’re the only things they’ve found he isn’t allergic to.

Mr Muirhead said: ‘Joey was consistently breaking out in boils and sores and we were scratching our heads over why. After a year of trips to the vets we finally got a special blood test performed to see what was going on.

‘Our local vets were baffled,’ he added. ‘They had never seen anything like it in a dog before.’

They now hope that a treatment of antibiotics combined with specialised dog food will help Joey avoid his allergies.

‘He’s looking much better,’ said Miss McCormack.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/812623-the-dog-who-is-allergic-to-cats-and-only-eats-potatoes

Thanks to original news poster.

Popularity: 1%

Jo Steele – 9th December, 2009

Over eight months, someone had gone around cutting the brake cables on nine cars – three Mercedes, a BMW, three Fords, a Nissan and an Austin – in three suburban streets.

Was it a neighbour with a grudge – or a reckless vandal? Detectives examined the hurt vehicles, studied CCTV footage and staked out the patch in West Wickham near Bromley, Kent.

But the breakthrough came when they went to Prof Stephen Harris, an expert in biological science in Bristol University, who identified the cuts and marks as being made by animals – probably foxes.

‘Foxes chew a wide range of objects – rubber and other balls, cables, garden hoses, shoes, gloves and pipes under houses when they can gain access through a broken airbrick,’ he said.

‘It appears they also occasionally develop a taste for brake fluids.’

Sgt George Blair, head of the West Wickham Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: ‘We were pleased to be able to find an innocent explanation for the cause of the hurt.

‘I want to thank Prof Stephen Harris for his expertise and invaluable help in clearing up this matter.

‘But, hurt like this can be perilous, so I continue to advise residents to safety check their brakes by applying them before moving off’.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/805489-mystery-car-brake-cutter-turns-out-to-be-suburban-fox

Thanks to original news source

Popularity: 1%

Tom Phillips – 3rd December, 2009

Nonja the orangutan’s photos, taken with a camera that dispenses raisins whenever she takes pictures, have won over 500 fans on Facebook since the zoo launched an online photo album on Tuesday.

Although the slightly blurry images of Nonja’s climbing rope, food and companion’s shaggy red-brown fur have won lots of admiring comments from fans, the photographer herself is not so interested.

‘Of course the apes don’t care about the pictures, they are just an accidental side product,’ zoo spokesman Gerhard Kasbauer told Reuters. ‘They just know that when they press the button, a raisin pops out.’

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/802863-orangutans-photographs-become-a-hit-on-facebook

Thanks to original news source

Popularity: 1%

Monday, November 23 2009, 13:58 GMT
By Mayer Nissim, Entertainment Reporter

Zookepers in the US have learned that a tortoise they thought was female for over half a century is really male.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo spokesman Tom O’Konowitz confirmed that the creature, previously known as Mary, has now been renamed Terry, The Chronicle-Telegram reports

O’Konowitz said: “This is certainly a first for us. It came as something of a surprise to finally figure out Mary’s right identity. It took us 55 years to finally say she’s a boy.

“With some species like elephants, gorillas and rhinos, it’s very obvious whether you’re dealing with a male or female.”

He added that staff had assumed the tortoise was female because it had a flat shell, small tail and was the smallest of a batch of three that arrived from Aldabra Island off the east coast of Africa in 1955.

O’Konowitz clarified that large tortoises’ reproductive organs are not usually visible during examinations, but in this case “became visible to the staff”.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/news/a188210/mary-the-tortoise-is-really-male.html

See also: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?Zookeepers_get_tortoise_sex_surprise&in_article_id=775666&in_page_id=2

Thanks to original news source

Popularity: 1%