A man who tried to row from Thailand to India, a nightmarish creature found on an Australian beach, and a massive bike collection that could be seen from space were among the strange and unusual stories to pop up on our radar this past week.
Over the years, we've seen quite a few strange and unusual things wash ashore at coastal locations around the world, but a particularly wild video from this past week may be at the top of the list. While walking along a beach in Australia, Alex Tan stopped in his tracks when he stumbled upon the remains of a truly nightmarish mystery creature. The curious carcass appeared to be that of a four-legged animal that sported a long tail and a pair of paws that looked eerily similar to human hands. Upon posting footage of the creature online, Tan's video quickly went viral and eventually a wildlife expert stepped forward to seemingly solve the mystery by suggesting that the oddity was likely a dead possum.
Photo: Royal Thai Navy
This past week saw an oddly uplifting story cross our desk, when authorities rescued a man who was attempting to row a small boat from Thailand to India in a misguided but heartfelt quest to reunite with his wife. Upon being saved after 18 days stranded at sea, Ho Huang Hung explained that his wife works in Dubai and that, due to the pandemic, they have been apart for over two years. Tired of waiting to see her again, the lovesick man tried to travel to India by conventional means, but could not obtain the proper paperwork, which led him to embark what would have been a 1,200 mile trek across the Bay of Bengal by way of an inflatable boat.
Easily the weirdest story of the week came by way of Britain, where a man was arrested after collecting hundreds of bicycles and stashing them in his backyard in a massive pile that was so enormous that it could be seen from space. The unnamed homeowner's hoard of bikes has been a source of contention between he and his neighbors for years, since the man offered no reason for why he kept acquiring bikes nor if he had any plans to stop adding to the prodigious patch. The dispute finally culminated when cops visited the property and determined that many of the bicycles were stolen, leading to the homeowner's arrest and, his neighbors hope, and end his seemingly endless collecting.
For more strange and unusual stories from the past week, check out the Coast to Coast AM website.