Chernobyl workers ‘saw Mothman’ before disaster

Several workers at Chernobyl reportedly said they saw the notorious “Mothman” flying over the nuclear reactor just before the deadly explosion in 1986. The mythical human-bird hybrid is considered a harbinger of doom. An archaeologist who worked in the exclusion zone in northern Ukraine said legend has it that “rumours went through the ranks of Chernobyl, that five employees had seen a large, dark headless creature with gigantic wings and fire red eyes”.

YouTuber renames town ‘Gay Hell’ to troll Trump

A 25-year-old YouTuber has bought the Michigan town of Hell and renamed it Gay Hell. Elijah Daniel said he made the move to troll Donald Trump after the president turned down requests from US embassies to fly the rainbow flag during Pride Month. Two years ago Daniel became a temporary mayor of Hell and jokingly “banned” heterosexuality.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Man jailed after holding up bank with banana

A man who held up a bank using a banana has been given a 14-month prison sentence. Laurence Vonderdell, 50, told Barclays staff “this is a stick up, give me the cash” while pointing the curly fruit at them. The staff, in Bournemouth, Dorset, believed he was wielding a gun so they handed over £1,100 in £20 bank notes.