The Most Bizarre Things That Have Happened So Far In 2020

2020 began on a hopeful note - as all new years do. Very soon, however, it transformed into the year that introduced a "new normal" to the world and gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "unprecedented times". A lot has already happened in the first half of 2020 - from the coronavirus pandemic to Australia's devastating bushfires. In the last few months alone, American rapper Kanye announced his presidential bid - and then promptly dropped out of the race, Prince Harry and Meghan declared they were stepping down as senior royals and moved to North America, the Olympics were postponed and Elon Musk named his baby boy X AE A-12!

And we are just seven months into the year.

As the world continues to deal with the crazy year that is 2020, here are some bizarre stories that may have slipped under your radar. Take a look at some of the strangest things that have happened this year:

A star went missing

Have you ever heard of a massive star just...disappearing? For nearly 2 decades, astronomers studied a star in a galaxy 75 million light years away, reports The Atlantic. Recently, they looked at latest observations and realised they could not find it anymore. The discovery was announced last month - and it could be the first instance of a star collapsing into a black hole without first exploding into a supernova.

Mystery drones over Colorado and Nebraska

In January, people in the US states of Colorado and Nebraska began to report mysterious drones in the sky. According to the New York Post, rumours flew thick and fast about drones as big as car flying in grid patterns in the night sky.

Murder hornets

Let us remind you that 2020 was also the year that gave us murder hornets, lest you forget. Earlier this year, an invasive, predatory insect dubbed the "murder hornet" turned up at Washington state near the Canadian border, sparking panic. "An Asian giant hornet can sting you multiple times and deliver larger doses of venom just because of the size of them," said Sven-Erik Spichiger, managing entomologist at the Washington state Agriculture Department, about the murder hornets. "What we're told from the literature is that most people can survive one or two stings," he said.

A monkey stole COVID samples

In a bizarre incident in one of Uttar Pradesh's largest government hospitals, a monkey attacked a lab technician, snatched vials containing blood samples from three coronavirus patients and escaped. A video of the incident, which occurred in May, shows the monkey sitting atop a tree with the samples it stole.

Poland accidentally invaded Czech Republic

Accidental invasions are not unheard of, but they remain uncommon. In a minor misunderstanding, the Polish military recently invaded and briefly occupied territory in the Czech Republic - and stopped locals from entering a church in their own country, reports NPR. The misunderstanding was quickly cleared up and the Polish army retreated.

Pentagon released 3 UFO videos

The United States Department of Defense officially released three short videos showing "unidentified aerial phenomena". In a statement dated April 27, the Department of Defense said that the videos were taken by Navy pilots in 2004 and 2005, and had been circulating on the Internet since they were leaked in 2007 and 2017.