Author: Katie Boyden

Locals are baffled (Picture: SWNS) An ordinary street in Nottinghamshire is at the centre of a fruit-based mystery – which some are begging to come to an end. Residents of Abbey Road and Wensor Avenue in Beston have been puzzled for more than a year as a plate of peeled bananas has been left at the junction of their streets. The plate of peeled fruit is left in the exact same spot on the second of every month – and confused locals are no closer to figuring out who is behind the strange phenomena, and why. The fruit shows up early in the morning on the second day of the month, meaning nobody has managed to catch the joker in the act. But now residents are begging for the prank to end – as the fruit is rotting and making a mess. A printed note was left next to the road signs close to where the bananas are left each month, reading: ‘Please, respectfully, no more bananas! The plates are abandoned along with the fruit (Picture: SWNS) “The uncollected plates and rotting bananas leave such a mess! Wishing a Happy New Year to you all!’ Locals have described the phenomena as ‘annoying’ and it’s thought at least one person has reported it to the police. One resident, who didn’t want to be named, said: ‘I’ve heard it’s some kind of cleansing ritual but to be honest it’s just weird and it’s freaking people out. I know at least one person who has informed the police about it.’ Another, Clare Short, said: ‘I’ve asked around in the local community but no one really knows and no one can tell me anything. ‘The bananas appear early in the morning on the second of the month, I see them on my way to work. I’d love to know the answers to this. ‘I’ve come to take the signs down because I don’t really want to make it like

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page We’ve all heard the phrase ‘stuck between a rock and a hard place’, but it appears this man took things a bit too literally. Fire crews faced an unusual call-out on Friday evening after a man got stuck between two walls. Arriving at the scene in Westminster in Orange County, California, firefighters found the man wedged on his side between the two structures. The technical rescue team used a high point rescue technique, which allows them to lower or raise someone using ropes. The man was able to secure a harness around both of his shoulders, which allowed him to be lifted out of the tight spot. He was then able to climb down a ladder propped against the wall to the safety of solid ground. “/> The man was wedged in a narrow gap between two walls (Picture: Orange County Fire Authority) Thankfully he was uninjured – and while firefighters didn’t explain how he got stuck in the first place, it’s probably safe to say he won’t be doing that again. There have been plenty of stories of people getting stuck in strange places in recent months. People on a ride at a Six Flags theme park were trapped 200ft in the air due to a powerful storm rolling in, while careless drivers keep getting their cars stuck on a set of stairs in London after mistaking the path for a shortcut. “/> The technical rescue team managed to free him (Picture: Orange County Fire Authority) Drinkers got snowed in at the UK’s highest pub after cold weather swept across the UK, and two fossil hunters had to be rescued within hours of each other after getting stuck in deep mud. It’s not just humans who get stuck in tight spots, though. A ewe was recently rescued from a cliff

The sight has raised some eyebrows (Picture: SWNS) It’s not too uncommon to see a crashed car on the side of the road while getting from A to B. But those wrecks don’t always contain such unusual drivers. A car crashed on Mill Lane in Swindon some time ago – it’s not clear exactly when – and since then the wreck has been left abandoned. So locals have been left with raised eyebrows after a blow-up sex doll was placed inside the abandoned car. The doll was posed behind the wheel and looking out of the front driver’s side window, which is missing. Pictures of the comical sight were shared on local Facebook groups, with Casey Waren-Keel saying: ‘I spoke to the police officer myself when this happened. The car was left in a sorry state (Picture: Newsquest/SWNS) But at least the driver is still smiling (Picture: Newsquest/SWNS) ‘The driver ran away after crashing the car, but whoever did this made me laugh this morning.’ It was hoped the extra attention on the wreck might encourage the owner of the car to come forward and move the car – but so far the wreck hasn’t moved. Instead, the blow-up doll was removed after a couple of days. Pictures of the scene suggest the car seemingly hit a yellow-bordered sign with black and white arrows, which indicates that a sharp bend is ahead. It then left the road and ended up in a ditch full of reeds and other shrubs. The access to the boot had been removed or damaged, and the front passenger side door was open, with the front passenger seat leaning forward. Follow Metro on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news Follow us to receive the latest news updates from Metro (Picture: Getty Images) Metro’s on Whatsapp! Join our community for breaking news and juicy stories. The hubcap of the wheel below the front driver’s side door was

Joe McMoneagle claims he saw ‘bones’ on the surface of Mars (Picture: YouTube/Jesse Michels) A man who claims to be a former CIA agent says he has seen evidence of life on Mars. Joe McMoneagle calls himself a ‘remote viewer’, which he claims means he can perceive information about distant objects or events using the power of his mind. A retired US Army Chief Warrant Officer, he claims he and other so-called remote viewers took part in experiments carried out by US Army Intelligence and the Stanford Research Institute. He was one of the first people recruited for the Stargate Project, which ran between 1978 and 1995 – leading to him being known as ‘Remote Viewer Number 1’. The project was cancelled and declassified in 1995 after a CIA report concluded ‘no discernible benefit had been established’. But Joe appeared on the American Alchemy podcast last week and made some wild claims about what he apparently saw on Mars, during an experiment on May 22, 1984. Joe thinks there was some kind of extinction event on Mars, leaving bones on the planet’s surface (Picture: YouTube/Jesse Michels) He says instructors handed him a white card with coordinates and ‘Mars 1,000,000 BC’ written on it – and he saw a giant pyramid, bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, with ‘monster rooms inside’. Joe told the podcast: ‘I started getting an image of human beings that were trapped in a place where the atmosphere was turning bad. ‘It [was] obvious these people were dying for some reason, but they were humans. They were just twice our size.’ He believed the ‘very tall, thin’ people wearing ‘strange clothing’ were hiding inside the pyramids for shelter from a violent storm sweeping across Mars. Joe described the chambers as: ‘Different chambers… but they’re almost stripped of any kind of… furnishing or anything. It’s like ah… strictly functional, a place for sleeping—or that’s not a good word—hibernation, some form.’

The technique was used by the Ministry of Defence in the early 2000s (Picture: Getty/AP) An expert on UFOs has lifted the lid on an unusual ‘psychic spying’ technique used by the Ministry of Defence in the wake of 9/11. Remote viewers claim to be able to view distant objects, people or events they have never seen before using the powers of their mind – and the technique was used by US Army Intelligence for decades. Joe McMoneagle, known as ‘Remote Viewer Number 1’ by the CIA, took part in remote viewing between 1978 and 1995 – and he recently appeared on a podcast where he said he had seen evidence of an ancient civilisation living on Mars.  Speaking to the American Alchemy podcast he said he saw ‘very tall, thin’ people wearing ‘strange clothing’, hiding in chambers in a huge pyramid structure from a storm raging on the planet’s surface. He theorised a ‘big object passed through our solar system’ that stripped the atmosphere from Mars, which caused alien life on the planet to go extinct. The CIA’s remote viewing project was cancelled and declassified in 1995 after a report concluded it had ‘failed to produce actionable intelligence’. Joe McMoneagle was known as ‘Remote Viewer Number 1’ in the CIA (Picture: YouTube/Jesse Michels) But despite this, the British military has also tried to use remote viewing – likely with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda as the intended targets. Nick Pope, who investigated UFOs for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), told Metro that Joe McMoneagle’s claims would be ‘interesting if true’. And he discussed the use of remote viewing, described as a ‘low probability high consequence situation’, in modern times. ‘While some scientists believe there was – and may still be – microbial life on Mars, it’s much less likely that there was ever a civilization there,’ Nick told Metro. ‘But I can’t rule it out, and I’d love it to be true. It would be

Up’ards and Down’ards trying to grab the ball (Picture: REUTERS) A historic football game played since the 1100s has returned to the north of England this Shrove Tuesday. The Royal Shrovetide Football Match is played every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in Ashbourne, Derbyshire – and has been since at least the 1660s. Shrovetide ball games have been played in England since Henry II was on the throne between 1154-89. It’s not known exactly when the Ashbourne match started due to a fire in the committee office in the 1890s which destroyed early records – but that hasn’t stopped locals turning out every year to maintain the legacy. In fact the match has only been cancelled three times since 1891: in 1968 and 2001 due to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, and in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Each game is played for 16 hours in total, from 2-10pm on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page The match is still being played 400 years on (Picture: Cameron Smith/Getty Images) Play starts at a plinth in the town centre, and the ball is moved towards either goal three miles apart via a series of ‘hugs’, not too different from a rugby scrum. Kicking, carrying and throwing the ball is also allowed, but the match is mainly made up of hugs. If a goal is scored (or the ball is goaled) before 6pm, a new ball is released in the town centre and the person who scored is carried on their teammate’s shoulders into the courtyard of the nearby Green Man Royal Hotel. For those on a time crunch, if the first goal is scored after 6pm, the game is wrapped up for the day. There’s no limit to how many people can play the game, drawing big crowds (Picture: EPA) But how are