By Tim Binnall
In a pair of stories that may have one casting a worried eye overhead, both a residence in Massachusetts as well as a golf course in Australia were recently struck by mysterious and rather sizeable chunks of ice that inexplicably plummeted from the sky. The first of the two incidents reportedly occurred this past Sunday evening at the home of Jeff Ilg and Amelia Rainville in Shirley, Massachusetts. After the couple had put their sons to bed, they were rattled by the sound of what seemed to be an explosion on their roof. Initially assuming that lightning was to blame, they were understandably bewildered when they went outside to investigate and discovered large pieces of ice all over their lawn.
Scratching their heads over what they were seeing, Ilg proceeded to shine a flashlight at the roof and spotted a huge hole. When he subsequently ventured up to the attic of the home, there were more pieces of ice scattered across the floor. Since the sky was clear that night and the possibility that the incident could have been a prank seems implausible, they have been left to conclude that the frozen object arrived by way of an airplane flying over their house, which is the scenario currently being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Looking back on the "wild" event, Ilg marveled, "the likelihood of this happening, we're better off playing the lottery."
Although he may believe that to be the case, Ilg might want to hold off on buying a bevy of scratch tickets as an eerily similar event unfolded just a few days later on the other side of the planet. This particular incident came to light on Tuesday morning when employees at a golf course in the Australian town of Ravenswood reportedly discovered an enormous chunk of ice that had seemingly fallen from the sky and landed on the fifth green. As with the American case on Sunday, the source of the 'frosty bomb' is believed to have been an airplane. While one can probably assume that the two incidents happening just days apart are merely a matter of coincidence, it might be wise to be on guard for falling ice over the next few days, lest these things happen in threes.