News of the Weird: Week of Oct. 14, 2021

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Inexplicable

Doctors at Klaipeda University Hospital in Lithuania were shocked to discover the source of a man's abdominal pain through an X-ray, The Guardian reported on Oct. 1. Apparently as a response to giving up alcohol about a month ago, the man had swallowed more than a kilogram of metal objects: nuts, nails, bolts, screws and knives. It took surgeons three hours to remove the pieces and repair the inner walls of the stomach. The unnamed man is being kept under observation and has been offered psychological assistance.

Mistaken Identity

Animal control officers were called to a home in San Mateo, California, on Oct. 3 to rescue a stranded tarantula on the roof, United Press International reported. But according to the Peninsula Humane Society, when the officer climbed up to capture it, she instead found an old Halloween decoration. "It looked like it had been up there for a while," said Buffy Tarbox, communications manager for the Humane Society. "Everyone thought it was real." The fake spider turned up for a few days on various desks at the Humane Society offices, then hit the circular file.

It's a Mystery

- WRAL-TV reported on Oct. 4 that several drivers along Highway 147 in Durham, North Carolina, had experienced a shower of brown, greasy, bad-smelling liquid hitting their vehicles and subsequently damaging the paint. "It had sort of a bleach smell," said Heather Toler. "It was raining down on top of the cars. It seems to be acidic based on how it's eating away the paint on the car." The mystery was solved two days later, when representatives of the chemical wholesale company Brenntag informed WRAL-TV that several of its employees had been depressurizing and disconnecting an empty sulfuric acid railcar at the company's facility next to the highway, causing acid vapor to be released into the air.

- This mystery is also solved: Police in Japan have been working for months to figure out why a light pole in Suzuka suddenly snapped at its base on Feb. 18. Most light poles in the country last for 50 years or more, but this one was only 23 years old. NBC New York reported on Oct. 1 that forensic scientists found 40 times more urea at the pole's base than was found on nearby poles. Yep, dog pee killed the light pole: Urea and sodium in dog urine caused the pole to erode. The new pole is up, but dogs are already marking it with their caustic streams.

Precious

Fargo, North Dakota, insurance agent Bill Fischer has a perennial battle with a certain red squirrel, Fox23-TV reported. Every fall, the animal squirrels away walnuts for the coming winter inside Fischer's pickup truck, then Fischer has to remove them so he can drive the truck. This year, Fischer has collected almost 350 pounds of walnuts from around the engine, the wheel wells, the front bumper and parts of the doors. Fischer said he tried spraying the truck with a mixture of Tabasco sauce and cayenne pepper, but now he thinks the squirrel is attracted to the scent. "I have to have a sense of humor about this after so many years," he said.

Unclear on the Concept

Perry County (Arkansas) assistant jail administrator Abby Strange has lost her job and is facing felony criminal charges after she allowed inmate Sandra Rappold to leave her cell and go outside to vape marijuana on Sept. 24, Fox16-TV reported. Investigators said Strange disabled the cell door alarm and gave the keys to Rappold. A warning system alerted deputies that a door was ajar, and they quickly found both women. Strange also allegedly supplied the vape to Rappold.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

- Claire Vickers, 46, and Barry Douglas, 44, were enjoying a drunken night out when, at 2 a.m., they decided to head over to the Aldershot Lido in Hampshire, England, slip under a fence and speed down a waterslide in the closed park. Unfortunately, a barrier blocks the exit from the slide after hours, and Vickers and Douglas both slammed into it, the Sun reported. Vickers' shin snapped and broke her skin, and every bone in her left foot was broken. Douglas broke his left leg and both ankles. "I looked over at Barry. He was in the fetal position and silent," Vickers said. "That's when I thought we were both going to die." After two hours of screaming and banging on the slide, Vickers and Douglas were rescued. "We're idiots -- let that be a lesson," she said. "I'm still having nightmares one month on. The pain was unbearable." No charges were filed.

- Four Italian men, part of a winemaking family in Paola, died at their family vineyard in early October after being overtaken by carbon dioxide in the small shed where they were fermenting the grapes. The Daily Beast reported that Santino and Massimo Carnevale, 70 and 45, and Giacomo and Valerio Scofano, 70 and 50, were all related. Police believe one of the men went in to stir the grapes, was overcome, and the next went in to help, one after the other. One woman who tried to go in fainted near the entrance, but survived. Paola's mayor said the tragedy brought "pain to the whole community."

The Litigious Society

Mauro Restrepo was hoping that Palos Verdes Estates, California, psychic Sophia Adams could help him remove a curse that was put on him by his ex-girlfriend, NBC Los Angeles reported. When he arrived at her business for his first session, Adams read his tarot cards and said he had "mala suerte," or bad luck. She told Restrepo that the curse could ruin him, his children and his marriage unless he paid her $5,100 to remove it. Restrepo paid her $1,000 as a down payment, but shockingly, she "did not in any way help (Restrepo's) marriage," alleged a lawsuit filed by Restrepo on Oct. 1 in Torrance Superior Court. He claims he has suffered sleepless nights, anxiety and anguish, and he's seeking at least $25,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.

Bright Idea

Jeanine Bishop, 67, of Sebastian, Florida, was discovered dead in the bed of a pickup truck in a Walmart parking lot on Oct. 5. ClickOrlando.com reported that detectives later interviewed her fiance, Michael Despres, 56, who first made "cryptic" comments about her whereabouts. But finally he admitted that he killed her at their home and later took her body to the parking lot, where he "staged" her in the truck. Despres was charged with premeditated first-degree murder.

Least Competent Criminal

Derbyshire (England) police were hunting down a 36-year-old suspect in a string of thefts on Oct. 4 when they came across him trying unsuccessfully to hide -- in a closet, under a blanket ... with his feet sticking out the bottom, the Mirror reported. The police department posted photos of the incident on Facebook, where Sgt. Tarj Nizzer quipped: "If you run from ... police, you will only go to jail tired. In this case he had his blanket ready for his sleep in the cell."

A Person Can Dream

Kori Johnson of KSLA-TV was interviewing lottery ticket purchasers on Oct. 4 about what they'd do with the nearly $700 million jackpot when she met "James," HuffPost reported, who went into a lot of detail: "Well, I'm definitely going to get a new supercharged Mustang with dual exhausts, and about 5 kilos of cocaine, and I'll be good to go," he said. Johnson rolled with the punches: "So you like cars?" she asked.

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