Classic
Evenin' all.
A Worcestershire copper is apparently taking some serious stick from his fellow officers after heading off into the Clent Hills to investigate a "suspicious bright light" which turned out to be nothing more sinister than the Moon. According to Police Magazine, the "single-crewed" officer radioed his sergeant to alert him of …
Makes me wish they'd start handing out fines to nuisance / prank calls to the emergency services.
"Hello there's a large stationary object floating in the sky"
"It's the moon, you owe us £500"
"What? What for?"
"Wasting our time and taxpaye money, now will that be cash or credit"
I took it to mean the "force covering Worcestershire". Which to me is sensible as, given the global nature of the Internet, West Mercia would probably mean even less than Worcestershire to many people.
(Besides which, I think West Mercia sounds like something from Lord of the Rings lol)
think West Mercia sounds like something from Lord of the Rings
Well what with much of the Lord of the Rings being based around what became Birmingham (Sarehole Mill, the Two Towers, Moseley Bog) and surrounding areas, hardly surprising is it ?
I actually didn't know that. Then again not really a fan of LOTR, watched the films, don't really remember all that much. Today I've actually learnt something from the El Reg comments section! My flabber has been ghasted! :)
I believe JRRT came from the West Midlands and most of his epic non academic work were essentially the repackaging of local myths that he collected as a bit of a hobby so Middle Earth could be re read as West Mercia.
in real history, Mercia was one of the Saxon kingdoms that this country was divided up into before Radewald (?) united them under one crown.
AC because I don't want to admit that I have read the prologue to a very large book.
Original story is one to laugh about as well.
*Shrug* Same mistake is made all the time by pilots and people paid to take notice of the sky. Over the years I've seen some pretty freaky stuff that had me damn near in need of new underwear despite my "knowing" it was just weather or some other mundane stuff. A storm that took out radio communications and left me wondering if the glow in the distance was not a thunderstorm of epic proportions behind abnormally low cloud on a hidden rise in the land, but something less innocent and more man-made. Planes that hovered stationary in the air on the approach to Newark Airport for the duration of a three minute drive. "Highway hipnosis" that lost me the memory of a trip from Newmarket to Thetford one dark evening, just me, my sealed beams, the bright white dotted line and the cat's eyes to witness it.
At least he isn't trying to claim crop circles are made by someone other than a bunch of drunks with a plank and a piece of rope.
Well in all fairness I must say that normally I enjoyed that drive in 1979, which had not had three upcoming generations of Yoofs to ruin it like they have the rest of England. Oh Thetford, we weep for thy lost beauty, and the majesty of thine Thermos plant thrust into the skyline to keep warm the dignity of the nation.
I remember watching a mushroom cloud rise over the Irish Sea from the general direction of Liverpool, at about 2AM one morning about 30 years ago, from the foothills of Wicklow. It was a worrying 10 minutes or so before it became obvious that it was the moon and it's reflection.
Because the location and timing of moonrise varies, most people don't know where to expect to see the moon, whereas most people can tell you where the sun sets each evening.
One dark evening, I was driving to my Parent's place in Palo Alto, had been on the road for about 6 hours. Off the 280 freeway at Pagemill Road, under Alma, right on Middlefield, drive for a bit, through Midtown. Familiar, familiar, famillar. Turn off Middlefield, onto another street and then immediately take another turn. Stop at the stop sign, again all's familiar. I'm nearly to my childhood home. Road banks to the left ... and all of a sudden I was lost. A few trees/bushes/hedges were gone, a new[1] house on the corner, and Xmas lights had totally transformed what I was expecting. Brain said "this is completely wrong, WTF???" ... Logic said "keep driving, you're in the right place." I arrived, two and a half blocks later, in time for dinner :-)
[1] Rebuilt/updated actually ... Cheaper that way.
I'm curious who downvotes a post like this. They tell a basic, personal story that makes sense and isn't really off-topic, and a couple of people downvote. What are they actually objecting to? Do they dislike people from Palo Alto? Are they offended by the highlighting of the fallibility of the human brain? Did the reference to trees and hedges being cut down touch a nerve in their envrio-consciousness? Why?
Well, it's better to investigate and find out it's nothing (or nothing harmless) than to fail to investigate only for it to come to light later that it was something harmful.
Still, if I were him, I'd invest in some novelty silver bullets to put in my locker. If they're going to rib him about werewolves anyway, may as well join in the laughter.