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Santas Blocked from Early COVID Vaccine, NASA Finds an Expensive Rock and Other Strange Tales.

Woman Impersonates Prosecutor, Drops Charges Against Herself

Officials say a New Hampshire woman impersonated a Hillsborough County prosecutor and filed false documents declaring that criminal charges against her had been dropped.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that Lisa Landon is facing one charge of false personation and six charges of falsifying physical evidence. Authorities allege that Landon submitted the fake documents to the court in three different cases last year. On a number of those occasions, she allegedly used the state’s electronic document delivery system to submit them.

Prosecutors were first alerted in November when a state forensic examiner appeared for a scheduled competency evaluation of Landon and discovered that the case had supposedly been dropped. “The file purported to contain a nolle prosequi [drop the charges] filed by Assistant County Attorney Patrice Casian, but it quickly became evident to the State that the document, as well as other documents in the file, had been filed fraudulently,” wrote Superior Court Judge David Anderson in his ruling for the case.

According to reports Landon also filed a false order to waive filing fees in a lawsuit she brought against Hillsborough County as well as filing a false order to halt guardianship proceedings involving her child.

Landon was reportedly being tried for crimes related to stalking and possession of methamphetamine.

Expert Poses as Elderly Woman to Lure Dangerous Turkey

A wildlife expert disguised herself as a frightened elderly woman to capture a turkey that has been terrorizing Oakland, Calif., residents for months.

According to ABC 7 in California, a turkey named Gerald by locals has been attacking elderly women for the last five months. The attacks became serious enough that authorities were forced to close the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland to halt the violence.

To catch the offending turkey, director of Wildlife Emergency Services Rebecca Dmytryk came up with an unconventional solution. According to complaints Gerald targeted elderly women who appeared defenseless, so Dmytryk disguised herself as a frail and frightened elderly woman and attempted to attract the wild bird. “I baited him in with blueberries, kibble and sunflower seeds,” she said.

When Gerald appeared Dmytryk pretended to be frightened and retreated from him. He reportedly began to puff up aggressively and advance toward her. “I saw his reaction to me and I said, ‘Oh, you want a piece of this? I’ll give it to you.’”

Gerald reportedly charged at Dmytryk, but the experienced wrangler was able to “scruff” the turkey—grab it by the neck in a way that doesn’t harm it—and capture it.

Gerald was reportedly released near Orinda, Calif.

Skull Wearing Sunglasses ID’d as Missing Person

Authorities in Tennessee say a missing man’s skull ended up on a fireplace mantle and was decorated with sunglasses.

According to CTV News someone saw the skull on another person’s fireplace mantle and notified the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office. Police investigated and found that the skull’s new owner allegedly discovered the human remains in the nearby area sometime in March 2019. The man who made the grisly discovery reportedly took the skull home, placed sunglasses on it and left it on his mantle as a decoration.

Police were able to identify the skull as belonging to Junior Willie McCann through DNA testing. McCann reportedly disappeared in September 2012. Authorities say they believe McCann was killed by a family member who is now deceased.

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office says the case is still open.

NASA Discovers Extremely Valuable Asteroid

An asteroid made entirely of metal has been valued at an estimated $10,000 quadrillion.

USA Today reports that NASA scientists recently discovered that asteroid 16 Psyche—one of the largest asteroids located in the belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter—could be made entirely of iron and nickel. The scientists have estimated its value at around $10,000,000,000,000,000,000.

“We’ve seen meteorites that are mostly metal, but Psyche could be unique in that it might be an asteroid that is totally made of iron and nickel,” said Tracy Becker of the Southwest Research Institute, the main author of the study that focused on the expensive space object.

NASA says the asteroid is estimated to be over 140 miles in diameter and might have started as the nickel-iron core of an early planet. Becker said, “What makes Psyche and the other asteroids so interesting is that they’re considered to be the building blocks of the solar system. To understand what really makes up a planet and to potentially see the inside of a planet is fascinating.”

Officials Halt Plans to Give Santa Early Vaccine Access

Health officials recently reversed a plan to offer early COVID-19 vaccine access to Santa Claus performers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Michael Caputo, an assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will not be going forward with his plan to vaccinate mall Santas across the country. The plan was meant to spread awareness of a theoretical COVID-19 vaccine—that Caputo expected to see before Thanksgiving—through promotion provided by the performers at rollout events planned for dozens of cities.

Ric Erwin, the chairman of the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas, confirmed the reports, saying that Caputo discussed the plan with him in August. Over 100 performers reportedly signed on to participate.

But the plan was reportedly never cleared with President Donald Trump or HHS leaders. The plan has now been halted. Caputo has reportedly been on medical leave since September. [ ]