FALSE ALARM
A Dutch UFO websitewas fl ooded
with reports after a “train of stars”
was spotted crossing the sky,
sparking fears of an alien invasion.
It turned out to be 60 satellites
launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX
as part of its“starlink” plan to pro-
vide Internet services from space.
(Sydney) D.Telegraph, 1 June 2019.MASSIVEPOWER CUT
A power cut left an estimated 48
million people in South America
without electricity on 16 June. All of
Argentina and Uruguay and parts
of Brazil, Chile andParaguay were
affected. A transmissionsystem
at Yacyretá Dam on theParaná
River, nearAyolas inParaguay, had
failed “without human interven-
tion”. In some places, powerwas
nor restored until the next day.
D.Telegraph, 17 June 2019.SPHERICAL IRONY
On 23 May, the University of Sus-
sex Flat Earth Society held itsfi rst
social event at The Globe pub in
Middle Street, Brighton. On Face-
book, 296 people said they were
going.D.Star, 24 May; theargus.
co.uk, 25 May 2019.SIMIAN SYMPATHY
A monkey apparently comforting
a grieving widow at a funeral, in
Nargund, India, became a social
media sensation. Footage shows
the monkey putting an arm around
the crying woman and patting her
on the head.Witnesses said the
monkey had been spotted at other
funerals.Times, 22 April 2019.8 FTTHREE-EYED SNAKE
This three-eyed snakewas
found on Arnhem Highway
near the town of Humpty
Doo just outside of Darwin in
northern Australia last March.
Nicknamed Monty Python, the
15in (40cm) long baby carpet
python died just weeks later. It
had been struggling to eat due
to its deformity. In a Facebook
posting, the NorthernTerritory
Parks andWildlife Service said:
“The snake is peculiar as an
X-ray revealed itwas not two
separate heads forged together,
rather it appeared to be one
skull with an additional eye
socket and three functioning
eyes. Itwas generallyagreed
that the eye likely developed
very early during the embryonic
stage of development. It is
extremely unlikely that this is
from environmental factors and
is almost certainly a natural
occurrence as malformed
reptiles are relatively common.”
Snakeexpert Professor
Bryan Fry from the University
of Queensland commented:
“I haven’t seen a three-eyed
snake before, but we have a
two-headed carpet python in our
lab – it’s just a different kind ofmutation like what we see with
Siamese twins.” He suggested
that the snake’s third eye could
have been “the last little bit of
a twin that’s been absorbed”.
mirror.co.uk, BBC News, 2 May
2019.‘UNICORN’ SHEEP
When stockagent Michael
Foster from South Australia
laid eyes on Joey the“unicorn”
sheep he knew he couldn’t let
such arare animal end up on
a barbecue, so he‘bought’ itSIDELINES...MARTIN ROSS
Unusual sportsofnature, tangled
ANIMALODDITIES tails, and thievingrodentsNORTHERN TERRITORYPA
RKS AND WILDLIFE SERVICESTRANGEDAYSABOVE:Monty Python, the three-eyed baby carpet python found on a road near the northern Australian town of Humpty Doo.
Sadly, Monty’s mutation meant that he struggled to eat and he died just weeks later.ABOVE: Joey the“unicorn” sheep – bought for two cases of beer.