from staff
Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, the Orlando-based company with a museum in St. Augustine, released its “Top 10 Strange Stories of 2010. Ripley claims that all are true.
• “Bearded Woman Finds Son.” Vivian Wheeler was born with hypertrichosis, which Ripley reports as “werewolf syndrome,” and as a hermaphrodite (both male and female reproductive organs) and was told she couldn’t have children. But at 29, she gave birth to a boy, who was promptly taken from her by her boyfriend and put up for adoption. In 2010, after years of searching, Richard Lorenc found his mother and they were re-united.
• “Ripley the Dog.” The living, breathing big pile of fur found in a ditch in Houma, La., turned out to be a year-old poodle. As he was being shaved, the vet decided to name the pooch Ripley, because “believe it or not, there is a dog under here.” The before-and-after photos garnered worldwide attention and less than 6 weeks after being discovered, Ripley was well enough to be adopted.
• “Longest High School Football Game Ever.” A high-school football game in Texas turned into an endurance battle as Jacksonville beat Nacogdoches in 12 overtimes, 84-81, breaking the record of nine extra frames. The game ended at 12:54 a.m., after the teams battled for more than five hours.
• “Spray-on Clothes.” Forget about all the medical breakthroughs in 2010, for surely it will become known as the year that scientists developed an instant, sprayable, nonwoven fabric that can be sprayed on to form clothes that not only cover, but can be taken off, washed and worn again.
• “Deep Fried Beer.” In a competition at the Texas State Fair, Mark Zable unveiled “fried beer.” In a patented process, he puts beer into a doughy pocket and deep fries it. The quick fry hardens the crust, but the beer remains a fully potent brew. Those who sampled it were carded.
• “Dead Body in a Car for 10 Months.” Shortly after a homeless woman in California was befriended by a motorist, she died unexpectedly. The driver, not knowing what to do with the body, drove it around for 10 months, next to a box of baking soda to help negate the smell. The body was discovered by police who smelled the stench, looked in the car and saw a leg poking out from under a pile of clothes.
• “Man Shot in Head Finds Out 5 Years Later.” A man living in Germany walked around and functioned normally for five years without noticing he had been shot in the head. The .22 caliber bullet was found when the man went to the doctor to have what he thought was a cyst removed. All he could remember was that it probably happened in 2005 at a New Year’s Eve Party and that he was “very drunk.”
• “Dog Chews off Man’s Toe.” A 48-year-old Michigan man credited his dog Kiko with saving his life by chewing off his diseased big toe as he lay passed out in a drunken daze. The terrier gnawed off his right big toe which turned out to be badly infected due to Type 2 Diabetes.
• “Woman Tries to be the Fattest.” A 42-year-old, mother of two wants to become the world’s heaviest living woman. Donna Simpson currently weighs more than 600 pounds and her desire is to top 1,000 pounds. She works as a model on a website where the curious pay to watch videos of her eating or walking. She spends nearly $750 per month in groceries for herself and admits that she is as hungry for attention as she is for the junk food she eats every day.
• “Cat Predicts Death.” Oscar the cat lives at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Providence, R.I. He roams the halls, is generally unsociable, and spends little time with anyone who has more than a few hours to live. He rarely errs in his predictions and this year extended his predicting streak to 50. He senses death and cuddles with the elderly patients until they pass.
Ripley Entertainment Inc. reports more than 13 million visitors annually at its more than 80 attractions in 11 countries. In addition to its 32 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions, best-selling books and the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! cartoon strip that runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.