News of the Weird: Plane had an unusual stowaway

A Scandinavian Airlines flight from Oslo to Malaga, Spain, was diverted to Copenhagen on Sept. 18 after a mouse crawled out of a passenger’s in-flight meal, the BBC reported. Jarle Borrestad, who was sitting next to the passenger whose meal harbored the rodent, told the BBC that people on board remained calm. Oystein Schmidt, an SAS spokesperson, said such events happen “extremely rarely.” Passengers were transferred to another plane and went on their way.

Student volunteers were helping with an archaeological dig in Eu, France, when one of them found a small glass bottle inside an earthenware pot, United Press International reported. Inside the bottle was a message, written in January 1825, from “P.J. Feret, a native of Dieppe, member of various intellectual societies.” Feret was carrying out excavations at the same site and left the message for future explorers. “It was an absolutely magic moment,” said Guillaume Blondel, head of the town’s Regional Archaeology Service. “Most archaeologists prefer to think that there won’t be anyone coming after them because they’ve done all the work.”

Joshua Kiser of Breinigsville, Pa., was looking for something with which to amuse himself during the pandemic when “I stumbled upon a picture of the eccentric man posing with a gigantic top hat on his head.” Kiser was referring to Odilon Ozare, who set the record for World’s Tallest Hat in 2018. Kiser thought it would be easy to surpass Ozare’s 15-foot, 9-inch hat, but it wasn’t until this year that he managed to engineer one, at 17 feet, 9.5 inches, that could withstand a walk of the required 10 meters while wearing it. United Press International reported that his winning design incorporated lightweight guttering and a trash can that “looked about the circumference of my noggin.”

A 27-foot-tall puppet in the shape of a seated baby has been installed in the center of town in Rochdale, England, the BBC reported on Sept. 25. The baby, named Lilly, has a mouth and eyes that open and shut. It is part of a council project to encourage schoolchildren to talk about the importance of the environment. Ostensibly, the kids will speak to Lilly; their conversations will be recorded and broadcast from the baby at an event on Oct. 24. But townsfolk aren’t warming up to Lilly, calling it “the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen.” One said, “It’s creepy with its eyes shut, never mind open.”

A Florida man was rescued late on Sept. 23 after he apparently attempted to swim across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, CBS News reported. The U.S. Mail Boat J.W. Westcott II was launched after hearing of the swimmer, who was using a life ring to help support himself. “There’s a very strong current, and the water temperature is about 73 degrees right now,” said Capt. Neil Schultheiss. “Even with the life ring, he was struggling.” When the boat picked up the swimmer, crew members said he seemed disoriented and under the influence. “He just kind of kept pacing around the front deck, saying, ‘Is this boat U.S.? Are we going to the U.S.?”’ Schultheiss said.

Send your weird news items with subject line Weird News to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.