Flying Elephants? No, But A Meteor That Size Buzzed Earth: Weird News & Oddities

It wasn’t an elephant that caused the thundering double boom heard over parts of New England but NASA’s description of the event caused a delightful foray into what would happen if elephants could flap their ginormous ears and take flight.

But we digress. Shiny object. And, yes, it was.

The fireball seen streaking across the skies was the burning tail of a meteor that, at 6.2 U.S. tons, weighed about the same as the world’s largest mammal, NASA said. It was about 5 feet in diameter (that’s about the circumference of a large adult elephant’s footprint, but again, we digress).

The meteor entered Earth’s atmosphere around the New Hampshire border with Massachusetts, north of Boston, and traveled for about 26 miles before breaking up and falling into Cape Cod Bay, NASA said

The agency said the energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 230 tons of TNT, which accounted for the sonic boom.

The fireball was seen over Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Ontario, and Quebec, according to the American Meteor Society.

The event initially prompted widespread speculation.

The rattling boom had some people in Massachusetts and Rhode Island thinking there had been an earthquake or that a tree had fallen. Others posted that their dogs were freaking out. At least one person posed the possibility of aliens.

• Read more: Elephant-Sized Fireball Streaks Across New England

Why Are People Going Into Sewers?

More than a dozen people climbed into Brooklyn’s sewer system through manholes at two locations last weekend, and no one knows why.

The reported trespassing prompted a police investigation and multi-agency search of the underground network. After a thorough sweep, authorities said the area is “safe and free of hazards,” the NYPD’s 62nd Precinct said in a statement.

City Council member Susan Zhuang praised the emergency response and warned against entering underground infrastructure, saying such acts are “dangerous, illegal, and cannot be dismissed.”

“Our sewers contain deadly gases, unstable surfaces, and serious flooding risks; they are not a place anyone should ever enter,” Zhuang said.

• Read more: Mystery Manhole Entrances Spark Brooklyn Sewer Probe

Stench Stalls Septic Tank Rescue

Unrelated but also gross, a Maryland man fell into a septic tank hole while walking his dog Monday.

When rescuers arrived, they found him clinging to the side wall of the septic tank. A woman who witnessed the fall had called 911 but said the putrid stench prevented her from getting close enough to help him.

Using a ladder, first responders were able to help the man out before he fell further into the hole. The man was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

• Read more: Man Falls Into Septic Tank While Walking Dog

Beachside Museum Out Of This World

If the truth is out there, Dave Metcalfe thinks some of it may be sitting inside a former bank building on St. Pete Beach.

Metcalfe, a Florida entrepreneur and U.S. Air Force veteran, recently opened the Museum of the Unknown at 4105 Gulf Blvd., where visitors can see relics he believes are alien artifacts.

He said the idea came after years of watching strange lights from his waterfront home, recording white orbs, Tic Tac-shaped objects and what he described as spinning portals over the Gulf.

At some point, looking up was no longer enough.

Metcalfe began buying artifacts tied to a dig north of Mexico City, eventually collecting so many that his fiancée and the couple’s cats helped make the case for a museum.

“I had half my upstairs with just relics,” he told Patch.

• Read more: FL Entrepreneur’s UFO Sightings Lead To Beachside Alien Artifacts Museum

Big Boy 4014 Steams Across US

Union Pacific’s mammoth Big Boy 4041 steam locomotive recently stopped in Chicago as it chugs across the country in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The mighty Big Boy 4014, the largest steam engine in the world, is the only operational locomotive among 25 built in the 1940s to haul freight over the Wasatch Range between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyoming.

The Big Boys are 133 feet long and weigh 1.2 million pounds. Due to their great length, the frames of the Big Boys are “hinged,” or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves.

• Read more: Big Boy 4014 Chugs Through South Suburbs To Honor America’s 250th Birthday

There are still chances to see Big Boy 4014 before it returns to its home base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on July 29.

• Read more: Where To See Big Boy As Giant Locomotive Steams East

Organ Transplant Caused Rabies

A 59-year-old Idaho kidney donor’s death in 2024 wasn’t due to heart failure but likely rabies, according to health officials.

They reached that conclusion after determining 76-year-old Barney Kurowicki, of Tecumseh, Michigan, contracted the disease from the Idaho man’s infected kidney. Kurowicki died of rabies about a month after the transplant.

Authorities think the donor, James Martin, contracted rabies after being scratched by an aggressive skunk while defending his kitten. His wife followed through with his plans for organ donation and mentioned the encounter with the skunk.

But because it’s so rare for rabies to be transmitted through organ donation — there were only three documented cases between 1978 and 2024 — they didn’t screen the kidney for the disease. While rare, it has happened before. In 2013, a patient in Maryland died from rabies more than a year after receiving a kidney transplant.

• Read more: Man Died Of Rabies After Kidney Transplant

This Won’t Be Tolerated

Just so you know, Hazel Marie’s ice cream parlor in Plainfield, Illinois, has a zero-tolerance policy for customers who throw banana splits — or presumably any other product — at employees’ heads.

Police were called to the ice cream parlor on Memorial Day after an employee was hit in the side of the face with the ice cream desert.

“[That’s] not going to be tolerated here, not something that we’re going to allow,” store owner Tammy Barvian said in a video shared on Facebook. “We think you're going to agree with us: We have amazing employees, far superior to most, and they really feel like kids to us. We’re not going to take it lightly when they’re disrespected or bullied.”

Bavarian apologized for high wait times and said customer service “fell short” that night.

By the time police arrived to investigate the incident, the culprit had already split.

• Read more: Customer Throws Banana Split At Employee, Then, Well, Splits

Emu Holds Up Traffic

Because apparently the beach traffic needed one more complication, a runaway emu on Maryland’s Eastern Shore held up traffic last weekend near the Ocean City exit off the Salisbury Bypass.

Footage from the scene showed the flightless bird running along the roadway as drivers watched from their cars. Authorities said the bird was hit by a car but was not injured. It was eventually roped in with a dog leash near Pheasant Drive about three hours after troopers were first called.

Officials said it remains unclear how the bird escaped.

• Read more: As If Beach Traffic Wasn’t Stressful Enough, Escaped Emu Snarls It Even More

Bear Takes To Town Life

This also happened. A 150-pound bear wandered into Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and climbed a tree above a white picket fence, looking quite at home in the bucolic neighborhood.

“Bear in tree” neighborhood alerts don’t happen on the regular. And it’s not often the high school track-and-field department is called in to assist in a wildlife rescue operation.

Wildlife officials tranquilized the bear with a dart rifle, and it fell 18 feet into a thick pole vault pad borrowed from Mount Pleasant High School.

The soft landing allowed the bear to escape injury during its eviction from the neighborhood. After tagging it, the bear was relocated about 60 miles away to be with other bears in the Houghton Lake area.

• Read the story: Black Bear Tries White Picket Fence Life

Deer Takes A Dip

Deer may be known for roaming the woods, but one local visitor decided to test out the Long Island waters instead.

Friends of the Bay spotted and captured the moment a deer paddled through Oyster Bay waters. Town of Oyster Bay officials said bay constables are no strangers to the sight, noting it is “not uncommon” to spot deer swimming in North Shore waters.

Officials said residents who come across a swimming deer should stay calm, and there is no need to panic if the animal does not seem to appear in distress.

• Watch the video: Deer Goes For A Dip, Paddles Around Oyster Bay Waters

‘What Dog?’ Social Media Wonders

A lost French bulldog in Englewood, New Jersey, needed help getting home. The internet, naturally, had follow-up questions about the officer holding him.

Englewood police posted a photo of Officer Jesse Lagrosa with a gray French bulldog, asking whether anyone knew where the pup lived. The post worked, though not entirely as designed.

“What dog?” one person asked.

“Is the officer looking for a home too?” another wrote.

Others wondered whether they could take both, which is not usually how lost-dog notices are supposed to go.

Police Chief Thomas Greeley told Patch the department got a kick out of the comments while noting the important part: The dog was returned to its owner.

As for Lagrosa’s availability, Greeley said only that he’s doing a great job and fitting in well with the department.

• Read more: Lost Dog Brings Amorous Attention To Cop