2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

YOU’RENICKERED
YukiEndo,35,wasarrestedafter
breakingintotheflatofawoman
inTokyotostealherunderwear.
Policefound 78 pairsofknickers
athishome.“Ionlystolepanties,”
he said in mitigation. “I have no
interest in bras.”Sunday Mirror,
Oct 2019.

SERPENT DROPSIN
A10ft (3m) python fell through the
ceiling ofaspa, alarming guests
in Foshan, China. Staff at the spa,
which is partofahotel,recalled
spotting the serpent 10years
earlier,but didn’t think to mention
it at the time and, as it grew,the
ceilingeventually collapsed under
its weight.Sunday Mirror,24Nov
2019.

PREMATURE TREK

Acamel,acow andadonkeywere
foundwandering alongaroadin
Kansas in late November,abit
early for Christmas.Officialsasked
for help finding the owners of the
“three friends travelling together
(towardsaNorthern star)”.
D.Mirror,23Nov 2019.

GIVING HEAD
María del Carmen Merino,61, from
Cantabria, northern Spain,gave
her neighbourabox of sextoys“for
safekeeping”, butwasarrested
after the neighbour noticed an
awful smell on 28 September,
coming fromadecomposing head
wrapped in plastic,identified as
belonging to Jesús María Baranda,
67, del Carmen’s partner of seven
years,reported missing inFebruary.
Merino denied involvement.
“Someone left Jesus’s head on the
doorstep andIkeptitasitwas the
only mementoIhad of him,” she
told police.Times,2Oct 2019.

UPINSMOKE

SIDELINES... Explodingwashing machines, airfreshener

disaster,andatree that burnt from inside out

8 FT

• Adrivercausedanexplosion
  in hiscar afterlighting a
  cigarette whichignitedair
  freshener he hadearlier
  sprayed in “excessive”amounts,
  according tofirefighters. Gas
  from the aerosol spray ignited,
  blewout thewindscreen and
  windows, andbuckledthe
  doors.Themotorist, stuck
  in traffic in Halifax,West
  Yorkshire, escaped withminor
  injuries.Theexplosionwas
  so powerful it caused damage
  to thewindows of nearby
  businesses. Similaraccidents
  occurredtotwo separate
  motorists, in Southend, Essex,
  andConisborough,West
  Yorkshire, both in thesame
  week ofAugust 2017.BBCNews,
  7Sept2017;16 Dec2018.


• Meanwhile, thereis
  increasing concernabout
  explodingovens intheUK. A
  mother of twowas left shocked
  after herovenblewupduring
  self-cleaning mode, showering
  her kitchen with broken glass.
  Theovenismanufacturedby
  Whirlpool butsold under the
  Ikea name. Morerecently, a
  Leicestershirewoman, using
  thesamemodel and the same

cleaningfunction,saw400°C

(752°F) glass from the shattered

oven fly across herkitchen.A

newspaperinvestigation claims

over70ovens ofvariousmajor

brands have explodedinrecent

years, includingaWhirlpool

that detonated “likeabomb”.

Theself-clean functionheats

theoven to500°C (932°F) in

orderto burnfood residue and

grease to ashes.

TheWhirlpool manufacturer

has been criticisedby MPs

forissuing gagging ordersto

silence victimsofits faulty

tumbledriers, around 750 of

whichhavecaused household

fires over thelast 15years.

D.Mail, 30Nov2019.

• Duringathunderstormover
  Trinity,Texas,atreewasstruck
  by lightning and caughtfire,
  theflamesbillowing out from
  insidethe trunk.Thespectacle
  wasfilmedby 44-year-old local
  businessman Glenn Ratcliff,
  who uploaded it to social media,
  whereitquicklyreachedover
  onemillion views. Mr Ratcliff
  said “Wehad no wind that day
  andfortunately no treesaround
  it caughtfire.Times, 23 Oct

WEST

YO

RKSHIR

EF

IREA

ND

RE

SCU

ES

ERVICE

MARTIN ROSS

He had esprayed

air freshener

in “excessive”

amounts

GLENN

RATCLIF

F/

CA

TERS

NE

WS

STRANGEDAYS

ABOVE:Theexplosionblewout windows and buckleddoors.BELOW:The Texan tree thatcaught firefromthe inside.