Here are some of the most unusual stories yet.
Boy Turns into a Yam
Three pupils of the Evangelist Primary School in the northern Nigerian town of Maiduguri rushed into the headmistresses office in March 2000 and said that a fellow pupil had been transformed into a yam after accepting a sweet from a stranger. The headmistress found the root tuber and took it to the police station for safe-keeping. Following local radio reports, hundreds of people flocked to see the yam and police were hunting for the sweet-giver. What happened next failed to reach the media.
Fiery Persecution
The village of Canneto di Caronia on Sicily’s north coast has been plagued by mysterious fires. The trouble began on January 20, 2004, when a TV caught fire. Then things in neighbourhood houses began to burn, including washing machines, mobile phones, mattresses, chairs and even the insulation on water pipes. The electricity company cut off all power, as did the railway company, but the fires continued. Experts of all kinds carried out tests, but no explanation was found. The village was evacuated in February, but when people returned in March the fires resumed. Police ruled out a pyromaniac after they saw wires bursting into flames.
Notecase from the Sky
In October 1975 Mrs Lynn Connolly was hanging washing in her garden in the Quadrant, Hull, when she felt a sharp tap on the top of her head. It was caused by a small silver notecase, 63mm by 36.5mm, hinged, containing a used notepad with 13 sheets left. It was marked with the initials ‘SE’, ‘C8′, ‘TB’ (or ‘JB’) and ‘Klaipea’, a Lithuanian seaport. No one claimed it at the police station, so it was returned to Mrs Connolly. It seems likely it fell only a short distance but from where? If it had dropped from a plane, it would have given her more than a tap.