Quarantine’s Crazy Headlines 

2020 has had its fair share of crazy headlines. The seemingly never-ending abyss of news gets weirder and weirder. Here’s a recap of some of the strangest headlines.

On April 27th, the Pentagon attempted to clarify a series of videos that seemed to display “unidentified ariel phenomena.” The first video, which was leaked in 2007, shows a small flying object and neither of the voices in the video can make out what it is. It has since gone viral. The next two videos were leaked later in 2017. The US Defense Department made it clear that these videos were the property of the Navy.

These videos have resurfaced across the internet several times, but they have not received much attention from the US Department of Defense. After a thorough review, they determined the videos did not contain any classified information and they were released to the public.

Although these objects in the videos are deemed as “UAO’s,” or “unidentified ariel phenomena,” it was made clear by a Navy spokesperson that this was a case of term preference, where they had been encouraged to declare these objects as “UAO’s” and not “UFO’s.” So make what you want out of this, but we have learned very little information from the release of these videos.

If 2020 couldn’t have gotten any more strange, the “murder hornet” has entered the fire. In 2019, the United State’s first case of the Asian giant hornet was spotted in Washington state. Beekeepers noticed a significant increase in dead bees with their heads ripped off. 

The Vespa Mandarina, better known as the ‘murder hornet’ has struck fear in people across the country. The hornet is more than two inches long and, according to Washington State University experts, is capable of killing a human who is stung multiple times. Experts say they don’t typically attack people and instead target honeybee colonies. Alarms shouldn’t be sounding for the average person, as the ‘murder’ nickname actually comes from their deadly relationship with the honeybees. It is likely that the first hornet arrived in the US via international cargo. 

Beekeepers should be aware of the situation, as this hornet could eventually impact their livelihood. If a beekeeper, or a civilian, spots one, they have been told to alert state agricultural officials. The sting can penetrate clothing, so don’t get too close. 

On the bright side, the world’s oldest man, Bob Weighton, celebrated his 112th birthday in the midst of the pandemic. Weighton lived through the 1918 flu and two world wars. It is a nice reminder that no matter your condition or situation, you have the strength to keep going.

P.S. Make sure to maintain social distance while in the area of a murder hornet.