The Odd Truth, July 2, 2003

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

Revenge Against Telemarketers

DULUTH, Minn. - An exasperated resident turned the tables on a company that hounded him with telemarketing calls, calling them more than 100 times in two days.

Marc Plaisted said he started calling Minnesota Auto Glass after the St. Peter-based company's telemarketers called him up to three times a day — even after he asked them not to. Plaisted had figured the calls would stop when he signed on to Minnesota's "do-not-call" list months ago.

"I'm following the law and asking them to be taken off the list and they ignore me and then, on top of it, start swearing at me," he said. "That was where they flipped the switch with me and I said, 'Enough is enough. I'm going after you guys now."

"I just called them every five minutes and let them know that, no, I don't have a crack in my windshield, because this seems to be something they are very concerned about," Plaisted said.

Racing Pigeon Goes On A Honeymoon

LONDON - A racing pigeon that lost its way while flying from France to Britain and ended up in New York finally reached home soil Wednesday as a passenger pigeon on British Airways.

Billy the pigeon was feared dead after he failed to complete a 425-mile flight from northern France to Liverpool, England, a trip begun three weeks ago and which should have taken seven or eight hours at a speed of about 50 mph.

Eleven days ago, Billy turned up some 3,000 miles off course at the New York home of a pigeon racer who identified the bird from a plastic racing tag on his leg. British Airways flew him free of charge to Manchester Airport, where he was briefly reunited with his owner John Warren before beginning a 31-day quarantine.

Joseph Ida, who spotted Billy among his flock of 100 racing pigeons in Staten Island, New York, said the bird had looked thin and tired after completing the trip from France to the United States.

The pigeon seemed to like New York and Ida during his visit to America, eating pigeon feed out of Ida's hand. He even got a girlfriend: Ida said Billy "calmed down" after mating with one of his pigeons.

"He was on a honeymoon for a week and a half," Lucchese said.

Crop Circles Leaves Farmer Baffled

ROCKVILLE, Calif. - Wheat farmer Larry Balestra might have trouble getting a great yield, with the crop circles all over his field.

Balestra, of Suisun City, says he found more than a dozen large flattened circles and shapes in his wheat field Saturday — one measuring more than 140 feet in diameter.

"What the heck?" Balestra muttered to himself upon walking into the field and making the discovery. He pulled out his cell phone and told his wife, "You won't believe what I'm looking at."

Balestra says the stalks were curiously bent flat to the ground and the crop circles stretched out longer than a football field, forming various shapes and symmetrical designs.

"The harvester can't pick this up," he told The Fairfield Daily Republic as he held up a broken stalk. "This is weird."

Crop circles first drew widespread attention in the 1980s, when they appeared in fields around the world. Their allegedly supernatural origins were quickly thrown into doubt, however, when people began admitting to creating them.

No More Stripteases For Soccer Players

GENEVA - In a move that may disappoint those thirsting for the sight of tanned torsos and bulging biceps, FIFA has ordered soccer players to keep their shirts on during matches and banned all celebratory post-goal stripteases.

FIFA boss Sepp Blatter said in an interview Wednesday that the decision taken by FIFA's executive committee last weekend in Paris was designed to restore "order and discipline" to the game, saying that simply too much flesh had been on display at the recent Confederations Cup.

"There were several awkward situations at the Confederations Cup,"' he told the Swiss newspaper Blick. "One player needed five minutes to put his jersey back on because his vest was sewn into it."

Players who ignore the new regulation risk the yellow card for baring their chest — or bra, as in the case of Brandi Chastain who pulled off her shirt after scoring the winning goal for the U.S. team in the Women's World Cup final against China four years ago.

Grizzly Bear Just Wanted A Snack

KALISPELL, Mont. - A grizzly bear forced two campers to retreat into a lake before snatching their Doritos and smashing them into little pieces.

"He just left this little sawdust pile of broken chips," camper Daynna Dowell said.

Dowell was swimming in the Hungry Horse Reservoir on Saturday when she spotted the bear sniffing their dog. The dog barked and chased the bear back into the woods. But the bear followed the dog back to the beach.

Dowell said she took photographs of the bear to provide evidence for investigators in case the animal devoured them. She also called her sister on a cell phone, telling her what was happening and saying she'd call right back ... maybe.

After crushing the chips, the bear wandered back into the woods.

Swimmer Swims A Yearlong Protest

ASTORIA, Ore. - Christopher Swain, who swam the length of the Columbia River to protest pollution, has finished his yearlong journey.

The 1,243-mile swim began at the river's source in Canada and ended with Swain pushing through 8- to 10-foot swells at the river's mouth in Astoria.

Swain swam the river to bring attention to the harm done to it by dams, pollutants and other threats.

"I wanted to put the river in the public eye, and I did it," he said.

Swain, of Portland, Ore., swam between five and 25 miles a day, depending on the water temperature and his health. He was flanked by a small motorized raft, run by volunteers. Every 20 minutes or so, he rinsed out his mouth with hydrogen peroxide against infection from the polluted water. He battled cold, wind, debris and infections he blames on the pollutants he swam through.

Dino Dig-Up

FRANKFURT, Germany - Archeologists have uncovered the 4-foot-long skull and part of the spine of a prehistoric reptile in southwestern Germany, a museum said Tuesday.

The dolphin-like ichthyosaurus was found at a construction site in Baden-Wuerttemberg state. The dinosaur's intact skull makes the find extremely rare, according to the Natural History Museum in Stuttgart, which plans to prepare it for display.

An order of extinct marine reptiles, the ichthyosaurus is believed to have lived about 185 million years ago, feeding on fish and other reptiles.