Weird News: Meteors, Big Bangs and Kegel Exercises

As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to inspiring tales of community brotherhood. But some stories are just plain weird. Here are some of the stranger headlines from the past seven days.

A Streaming Comes Across the Sky

Hundreds of people on the East Coast who reported seeing a meteor-like flash of light shortly before 8 p.m.

From Boston to the Carolinas on Friday night, there were hundreds of unconfirmed reports on Twitter and other social media outlets of a meteor-like object.

Diane Jones reported on Westhampton-Hampton Bays Patch's Facebook page that she and her husband saw it at 7:54 p.m. as they passed by the Westhampton Beach Country Club.

She said, "It was beautiful."

Hundred of reports were also submitted to the American Meteor Society.

Andrew N. reported, "There was an airplane visible in the sky at the same time as this phenomenon. The fireball (or whatever it was) was moving at least 5-10 times the speed. It covered about a third of the visible sky in no more than 4 seconds...this thing was moving faaaaast."

He also wrote, "Most of the fireball/trail was a bluish hue, but at the point where it sort of exploded there was a bright flash of yellow, I witnessed at least 3 different visible parts break away from the primary meteor, and for the last half second or so the bluish tint turned to green before it fizzled and faded from sight."

'North Shore's 'Big Bang' Explained

Residents across Northern Suffolk were startled Tuesday night when a loud bang and flash of light went off. Some locals said that boom was so heavy that it shook their homes.

Right after the bang, residents took to social media to figure out what they had just heard. Speculations varied from a train running off its tracks, to a power plant explosion and a plane crash.

So what was it? Meteor? Explosion? Alien invasion? No, just good old thunder and lightning, a spokesperson from the National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday.

LIRR Kegel Ad Stirs Reaction

The Long Island Rail Road took heat this week for bold advertising on trains highlighting Kegel exercises.

The ad, which promotes wellness TV network Veria Living, says: “Ladies, admit it. You’re doing kegels right now.”

Veria Living said the ads were intended to start meaningful conversations. 

“As part of our Random Acts Of Wellness campaign, we created a series of six ads with the goal of getting people engaged in thinking and talking about a number of health and wellness topics in new ways," said Michael Snyder, Chief Marketing Officer for Veria Living. "We chose placement on the LIRR as a way to catch commuters on their way to and from work, grab their attention and start meaningful conversations in the workplace and at home.”