Strange Stories
Many of these are from a newsletter called "News of the Weird" --
a compendium of oddball news items collected from around the world.
Kashima University expelled four medical students for
pelting other students with human brains.
School officials say the three men and one woman were dissecting
cadavers in the science laboratory when one of the males removed part
of a cerebral cortex from a corpse's skull and threw it at one of the
other medical students.
Within minutes a "brain fight" had broken out.
The students then reportedly opened the windows of the second floor
lab and began throwing the brains down on unwitting passersby on the
street below. One girl was hit in the face and required treatment at
the university's emergency room.
School security officers say they're fairly certain that more people
were involved in the brain-throwing but only four were witnessed.
The expelled students said they didn't plan the brain fight. One of
them said, "It just sort of happened." He blamed the odd behavior on
the pressure of constant study and lack of sleep.
Earlier this year, the dazed crew of a Japanese Trawler were plucked out
of the Sea of Japan clinging to the wreckage of their sunken ship. Their
rescue, however, was followed by immediate imprisonment once authorities
questioned the sailors on their ship's loss. To a man, they claimed that
a cow, falling out of a clear blue sky, had struck the trawler amidships,
shattering its hull and sinking the vessel within minutes.
They remained in prison for several weeks, until the Russian Air Force
reluctantly informed Japanese authorities that the crew of one of its
cargo planes had apparently stolen a cow wandering at the edge of a Siberia
airfield, forced the cow into the plane's hold and hastily taken off for home.
Unprepared for live cargo, the Russian crew was ill-equipped to manage a now
rampaging cow within its hold. To save the aircraft and themselves, they
shoved the animal out of the cargo hold as they crossed the Sea of Japan
at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Omaha attorney (and former judge) David
Crawford broke his collarbone recently as
he was demonstrating to his office staff
how easy it would be to tip over cows as
they sleep standing up. He had gotten down
on all fours and asked a staff member to
tip him over onto his side.
Five armed inmates overpowered guards at
a Venezuelan prison close to the Columbian
border in April, commandeered a vehicle,
and prepared to escape. However, none of
the five, nor any of the several hostages
they grabbed, knew how to drive a stick
shift, and army troops soon obtained the
men's surrender.
University of California-Davis graduate student
Ann Perkins, on her study of sheep sexuality:
"It is very difficult to look at the possibility
of lesbian sheep because if you are a female
sheep, what you do to solicit sex is stand still.
Maybe there is a female sheep out there really
wanting another female, but there's just no way
for us to know it."
After an audit, the U.S. Postal Service announced
in June that the IRS owed $2 million for underpaying
its postage bill. The IRS said several offices did
not understand the complex regulations on certified
mail.
In Orlando, Fla., Joseph T. Hill was convicted
in August of counterfeiting and faces up to 20
years in prison. Among his work was printing
several million Polish zlotys, worth only about
$300. Said a Secret Service agent, "He could
have printed a boxcar full of them and not
have enough to buy an expensive suit."
St. Paul, Minn., bank president Michael Brennan
filed a $50,000 lawsuit in July against the
city and a construction company for a 1989
mishap in his bank's restroom. The construction
company had shut off a sewer line without
notifying the bank, and when Brennan flushed,
he was suddenly washed out with "200 to 300
gallons" of raw sewage. The company offered
only to buy him a new suit.
Chicago-area police investigated a series of
thefts earlier this year of large quantities
of Kool-Aid from grocery stores. At first, they
thought that some bizarre collector was storing
the packets in his home. Later, however, they
discovered that Kool-Aid is a favorite among
drug pushers because it is light, easy to steal,
and can be readily sold to flea market
entrepeneurs.
Inmates at a prison in New South Wales,
Australia, taking advantage of a wardens' strike
in May, broke into an office and telephoned an
order for 18 tons of concrete to be delivered
as a prank. While they were at it, they called
out for 312 pizzas. (The concrete was sent
back, but the prison had to pay for the pizzas.)
Greg Weiler resigned in April after five years
on a citizens advisory committee to the Orange
County (Calif.) transportation commission
(studying traffic problems), saying he was
constantly unable to get to meetings on time
because of freeway gridlock.
The Santa Clara County (Calif.) Planned Parenthood
chapter announced recently it was having trouble
finding people, even for pay, for condom reliability
tests. Spokewoman Michelle McDevitt said many
married couples doubted they could meet the
"frequency" criterion for the tests: "A lot of
people said, 'Six times in one month? Forget it.'"
Secretary of State James Baker, on the July accord
between Helmut Kohl and Mikhail Gorbachev that
would allow a unified Germany to choose whether
or not to join NATO: "This is a delightful surprise
to the extent that it was a surprise, and it is
only a surprise to the extent that we anticipated."
NASA spokesman Bob McMillan, commenting on the
photographic success of the Galileo spacecraft
in February: "No problems. Everything has gone
tickety-boo."
The Times of India reported in May that two
Hindu brides, their vision obscured by long
veils, married each other's groom at Patan
village ceremonies that were rushed because
both had been mistakenly scheduled for the
same time. Village elders said the marriages
are final and cannot be revoked.
Eddie Oakley had requested a recording of
Ella Fitzgerald singing "Every Time You Say
Goodbye" at his cremation services, which
took place in Kidderminster, England, in
June, but the person in charge mistakenly
played "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes."
Newspapers in Naples, Italy, reported that,
in a lawsuit against an insurance company,
a couple had blamed the woman's pregnancy
on an automobile accident. She claimed
that while the couple was making out in
a car in a notorious lover's lane, another
car rammed their car from behind, causing
the couple to "lose control" and be unable
to avoid the insemination.
Gloversvill, N.Y., prison inmate Bruce Hillbourne,
30, apparently attempting to postpone a parole
hearing in February, swallowed 24 size AA and A
batteries, which had to be removed through
surgery. His record is 36 batteries, which
he swallowed while incarcerated in 1986.
In April, Judge Eduardo Rodriguez ruled, in
Granada, Spain, that Jesus Christ was innocent
of the charges that sent him to death in Galilee,
finding that Jesus suffered "significant" violations
of due process of law, including the absence of a
defender.
A Cuyahoga County, Ohio, judge recently awarded
two rape victims damages from their assailant
based on $50 per day for the rest of their lives.
Nine other victims of the man have a lawsuit
pending against him for $52 million. However,
the man's earning capacity is limited because
he is serving the next 1,449 to 3,195 years in
prison for the rapes.
A Vancouver, B.C, man found an unusual cure for a hard life. This man had a
severe temper, the police had a long sheet on him, mostly for beating up
his wife, and he also had a penchant for little boys. He was going
to trial in a month and he was probably going to do some hard time.
In addition, his wife was finally going to divorce him.
To top it all off, he had
just been told by his doctor that the nasty migraines he was getting were due
to an advanced stage tumor in his brain. The tumor was inoperable and was
eventually going to make him die a slow and painful death.
It was not too surprising that this man chose to attempt suicide.
As he was doing this in his garage, a next door neighbor heard the shot
and called the police who, upon investigation, summoned an ambulance.
It turns out that the shot, as is surprisingly common in bullet-
through-the-brain suicide attempts, did not kill him. On the contrary,
after being rushed to the hospital to treat his wound and stabilize his
condition, the doctors found that he had blown his inoperable tumor out the
back of his head.
After recovering, he was a changed man. His headaches were gone, he
lost interest in paedaphilia, and was able to control his temper to such an
extent, that he ceased being a violent sociopath. He did end up doing
about two years of time, but he got off on good behaviour. His wife
gave him that typical "last chance" that battered wives give over and over.
This time, he had changed. From her testimony, his parole officer's reports
and accounts from the social workers who visited him, he had become a very
gentle man. This conclusion had been reached after his third year out of the
prison.
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