On the early morning of January 4th, something hit and mangled a giant 290-foot-tall wind turbine in Lincolnshire, England. One of its three 65-foot blades was completely severed while another was left dangling like a wilted flower petal. Officials have cordoned off the wind farm (which seems only to be fueling the UFO theories) but have not been able to identify what hit the turbine—or, at least, they’re not willing to say.
Some people in the area report seeing bright orange spheres of light “with tentacles” streaking across the sky towards the wind farm around the time of the crash. UFO flares? Actually, they were the celebratory fireworks from the 80th birthday party of local resident, reports the Guardian.
Of course, UFO enthusiasts are having a ball with this one. But aside from a many-tentacled alien Don Quixote, other, slightly more rational suspects include a possible lightning strike, a meteorite, a robot stealth bomber on a test flight, a cow-sized ice chunk, or material failure. We’re also going to throw in revenge of the bats.
Ecotricity, the company that runs the wind farm, has sent the severed blade for forensic testing. Meanwhile, Ecotricity’s founder, 47-year-old vegan motorbiker Dale Vince—aka Zero Carbonista—seems to be enjoying the publicity.
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Image: Ecotricity
January 14th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I, for one, take this as a sign from our great lord and savior the Flying Spahgetti Monster. Let us all be touched by His Noodly Appendage.
January 14th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
The flaming tentacled creature is the spawn of Cthtulu. He has awoken to destroy our alternative energy sources.
January 14th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Hulk Hogan is by far the most likely culprit.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
[...] page). On any given day, there are all kinds of notable stories, some important, and some, well…interesting. And I mean it when I say I love to read, and I love to ask questions about the things I [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 11:44 am
My vote goes to a Neon Orange Cthtulu.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Marinara residues? Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster! Or… an overheated gear box seized.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I will admit, the lightning strike, meteor and robot stealth fighter on a test flight all seem plausible. But a cow sized chunk of ice? I thought you only got chunks that big up in the arctic, and none of them has been taken airborne as far as I know. So unless global warming has gone REALLY out of whack, I think I’ll stick to one of the first three explanations as the most likely.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:35 am
[...] also saw orange spheres of light, but those were later determined to be fireworks from a nearby birthday party. The weird part is [...]
January 25th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
[...] make matters worse, when a British wind farm took some damage during a freak weather event, out come the UFO-humpers to claim that it must be an alien intervention. Again, not a shred of evidence to back up their [...]
February 4th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
[...] Beware the alien octopus. Besides goats, you need to keep a watchful eye out for an alien octopus that may destroy a wind turbine near you soon. A wind turbine in Lincolnshire, England was hit by something mysterious in early January. One of its three 65 ft blades was totally mangled and left wilting. Officials have no explanation for what caused the mangling. UFO enthusiasts have their theories because bright orange spheres were seen in the area at the time. Could it have been destroyed by a many-tentacled alien, a meteorite, a plane? Personally, I’m going for the revenge of the bats theory. Source: Discover Magazine. [...]
March 18th, 2009 at 1:54 am
Obviously it was Al Gore after hearing the plight of the bats he was quite angry…
May 29th, 2009 at 11:59 am
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June 8th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
[...] Content: Discoblog: Weird Science Roundup: Dead Space Monkeys and Suicidal UFOs Discoblog: Did an “Alien Octopus” Destroy a British Wind Turbine? Discoblog: Chatting With Aliens? Researcher Aims to Create Alien [...]
June 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
[...] Content: Discoblog: Are Wind Turbines Killing Innocent Goats? Discoblog: Did an “Alien Octopus” Destroy a British Wind Turbine? Discoblog: Paris Hilton’s Energy Policy Is All [...]