Posted: Sunday, December 27, 2009 7:52 am

A routine business trip to Pittsburg took a turn for the worse for Steve Hall, when a football-sized hole opened in the fuselage of the Southwest Airlines flight.

Sometimes the most popular stories are those that are a little off the wall. Here are the Top 3 odd stories read by thousands on murfreesboropost.com.

• Murfreesboro man speaks out about hole in plane

In July, a routine business trip to Pittsburg took a turn for the worse for Steve Hall, when a football-sized hole opened in the fuselage of the Southwest Airlines flight he was on.

About 45 minutes into the flight from Nashville to Baltimore, the Murfreesboro resident heard a loud pop and wind rushing. Then the oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as the cabin lost pressure.

And, like most airline passengers, he didn’t pay attention to the preflight instructions. But after flying between 20-30 times a year for work, he knew how to put the mask on.

Hall said the hole was above his seat and to the left, and all he could make out was a crack of sunlight peeking through where no sun should shine.

• Intelligent UFOs are visiting Earth, physicist says

Somewhat surprisingly, a story about the Tennessee chapter of the Mutual UFO Network’s first statewide meeting Saturday, Dec. 5 in Murfreesboro garnered much attention.

Physicist Stanton T. Friedman joined MUFON to speak on the overwhelming evidence “ that intelligently controlled vehicles are visiting the Earth, which would lead to a cosmic Watergate if disclosed by the government.”

His said his beliefs are based on years of study and interviews with citizens who sighted UFOs.

• Crime-fighting parrot

The Bizarre in the Boro weekly feature by Lisa Marchesoni captures Rutherford County and Murfreesboro’s worst at their best.

In terms of readers, 2009’s top Bizarre was a report from the Murfreesboro Police Department about a burglary thwarted by a talking bird.

“It’s believed the perpetrator was scared off by one of the victim’s talking birds,” Officer Dave Norton reported. “When scared, it says, ‘Help me.’”


2009’s Most Commented

1. Juveniles accused of stomping cat to death
2. Parents charged with 'severely' abusing baby
3. 'Skydive' stickers costing $5,000 in damage
4. Congressman Gordon announces he will retire
5. Intelligent UFOs are visiting Earth, says physicist
6. Mother, infant tornado victims identified
7. Chamber names WOC pastor ‘Business Person of the Year’
8. Woman accused of striking boyfriend with frying pan
9. Tornado kills two, hurts 35, destroys 136 homes
10. Burglars steal $7,000 in property from vehicles
11. Bryant family issues statement about tornado