StrangeSights

• A German travel agency is reportedly selling tickets for an comet fly-past. Bonn-based Eclipse Travel has joined with charter agency Air Partner and airline Air Berlin to offer 88 people the chance to be among those on a two hour flight aimed at giving them a relatively close-up view of comet Pan-STARRS as it passes within 100 million miles of Earth on 16th March. The plane will zig-zag at a height of 11,000 metres where the atmosphere is clearer and cleaner (and hopefully above the clouds).

• Could your grass do with a coat of paint? Pictures have reportedly emerged from the town of Chengdu in China’s south-west showing local government workers spray-painting some grass green with a chemical solution called the ‘Top Green Turf Greening Agent’. The dye - which is apparently non-toxic - has also been used in a range of other localities including golf courses.

• If you see a Yeti while in the Himalayas, you may capture or film them but do not shoot them (unless you need to in self-defence). Such was the advice issued by the US Embassy in Nepal in 1959. A memo released by the National Archives in the US late last year detailed a series of three regulations for would-be Yeti hunters to abide by. They include the amount needed to be paid to the Government of Nepal for a permit to hunt the Yeti (5000 rupees); that the Yeti should not be shot at; and, that any news and reports which may “throw light” on the existence of the creature should be surrendered to the Nepalese Government.

• Much as they were busy hosing down reports of UFOs in the mid-20th century, a recently declassified document shows the US Air Force drew up plans to build its own flying saucer in the 1950s. Called Project 1794, the plans (which can be seen here) show a disc-shaped craft designed for a vertical take-off and landing which could reach a top speed of Mach 4. A Canadian company was even apparently contracted to build the craft.

• Thousands of people from across the country converged on the small township of Millmerran in Queensland for the Australian Camp Oven Festival last weekend. The biennial event, which was first held in 1999, celebrates life in the bush and its feature events include a camp oven cook-off and damper throwing competition as well as workshops, billy boiling competitions and, of course, sheep shearing demonstrations. For more on the festival, see www.australiancampovenfestival.com.au.

• OK, we’re a little late with this one but we still thought it worth a mention. In celebration of its 50th anniversary in Australia, the Lego company has created a series of Lego constructions depicting 10 great moments in Australian history. The scenes, which were selected following a survey of Lego fans, include everything from Steve Irwin holding his son Bob in one hand while feeding a croc with the other, Cadel Evans winning last year’s Tour de France, the opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973 and the praise for the film, The Castle, following its release in 1997. You can see a full gallery of the winners here.

• It’s official - mermaids don’t exist. That’s according to the US Government’s National Ocean Service who issued a statement earlier this month saying exactly that: “No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.” Noting that belief in mermaids may have arisen at the “very dawn of our species” the statement adds: “Why, then, do they occupy the collective unconscious of nearly all seafaring peoples? That’s a question best left to historians, philosophers, and anthropologists.” The statement follows one from the US Government last year saying there was no evidence any life exists outside our planet. But that debate will continue following recent revelations by an ex-CIA agent that the famous Roswell incident really did involve “a craft that did not come from this planet”. A recent poll showed more than a third of Americans believe UFOs exist.

• Batman could fly using his specially-designed bat wing-like cape but the landing would probably kill him. That’s reportedly the conclusion of four students at the University of Leicester in the UK who, taking Christian Bale’s rigid wings in the film Batman Begins as a starting point, have worked out that the landing impact would likely be around 80 kph, similar to being hit by a car. Best stick to the Batmobile, Batman!

• They make regular appearances on Funniest Home Videos and have had more than one viral hit on the internet. Now comes the film festival dedicated to funny videos of…cats. The Internet Cat Video Film Festival will take place in the US city of Minneapolis on 30th August. Nominations for what you think are the funniest videos are now open.

• Fancy some sausage and mash. An ATM in London’s east is offering customers the choice of conducting their banking in English - or cockney. The Leytonstone machine reportedly offers those who choose Cockey the chance to obtain a Charlie Sheen (balance on the screen) and the chance to change their Huckleberry Finn (pin number). Cash is dispensed in various denominations including a Lady Godiva (fiver or £5) and a Horn of Plenty (£20).

• It’s an amateur snapper’s dream. An American company has produced a camera that takes images which, if unfocused at the time, can be focused later on. The pocket-sized Lytro uses “light field” technology to capture complete light field data and thus enable photographers to “shoot now and focus later”. The camera starts at $US399 for an eight gigabyte version.

• A mysterious Lego man has washed up on a US beach. The eight foot tall fibreglass Lego man reportedly washed shore last week on a Florida beach but is now being held in police custody until an owner comes forward. Named ‘Ego Leonard’, the figure bears the slogan ‘No real than you are’ on its top. It has been suggested that the man is the work of Dutch “guerilla artist” Leon Keer. A similar figure appeared on a Netherlands beach in 2007.