Jockstrip: The world as we know it

O'Hare workers spy unidentified object

CHICAGO, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A group of United Airlines employees at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport claim to have seen a saucer-shaped object flying low above the terminal.

Several witnesses said the dark gray elliptical object, which was spotted before sunset Nov. 7, hovered for several minutes above Gate C17 at the airport before flying upwards through the clouds, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said the object was not spotted by any air traffic controllers and a preliminary radar check did not turn up anything unusual.

However, some of the witnesses insist the UFO was not a "weather phenomenon," as the FAA has suggested.

"I tend to be scientific by nature, and I don't understand why aliens would hover over a busy airport," said a United mechanic who observed the metallic-looking object.

"But I know that what I saw and what a lot of other people saw stood out very clearly, and it definitely was not an (earth) aircraft," the mechanic said.

Thief makes off with lamp for MLK ceremony

FEDERAL WAY, Wash, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A thief has made off with an oil-lamp and 31 banners used for a Washington State town's Martin Luther King Day observance.

Federal Way, Wash., has used the lamp for the last seven years. It was lit as the last event with participants then pledging to build a better community.

The lamp and banners were stolen three weeks ago from a storage locker rented by the Martin Luther King Day celebration committee, the Tacoma News Tribune reported. Officials are unsure if the thieves were targeting that locker or made a random choice.

Ron Walker, the committee chairman, said he may use a candle this year as a substitute for the 30-inch-tall lamp.

"It's really heartbreaking," he said. "To have someone steal something that makes a difference is really disheartening."

The theft was the fourth recent one involving Federal Way symbols. A high school student has been charged with stealing a school mascot, a stuffed bald eagle's head. A bronze bell from Federal Way's first shopping center vanished from the Historical Society but was found nearby, and the bell's cupola later disappeared and is still missing.

Man allegedly torches rival eatery

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The proprietor of a New York Kennedy Fried Chicken location was charged with arson after he confessed to burning down a neighboring donut shop.

Kabeer Ahmad, owner of the KFC location, confessed to punching a hole in the wall his store shares with Twin Donuts, spraying gasoline through the hole and igniting the fuel with a match after the rival eatery began selling fried chicken at a lower price than Ahmad's, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

"The chicken guy was mad at the doughnut guy because the doughnut guy started selling fried chicken, and the doughnut guy was undercutting the chicken guy's prices by 50 cents a plate," said Robert Pinto, a New York City fire marshal.

The donut shop, which Mike Chhor had recently purchased for $25,000, was completely destroyed, and Ahmad's chicken emporium was damaged, the New York Post said.

Ahmad, a Pakistani immigrant, told investigators he was outraged because his lease barred competitive business, the New York Daily News reported.

Woman accused of attempted dog poisoning

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- A Cheektowaga, N.Y., woman was arrested and charged with attempting to poison a neighbor's dog.

Police accused Charmaine Twarozek of feeding meatballs laced with rat poison to Roscoe, a German Shepard mix owned by neighbor Sue Anderson, the Buffalo (N.Y.) News reported Tuesday. The dog survived and Twarozek was arrested after a frying pan containing left over ground beef and rat poison was found in the trash in front of her house.

"She's charged with poisoning a dog and with cruelty to animals, misdemeanors under the agriculture and markets law," Cheektowaga Police Capt. John Glascott told the News. "We've seen disputes over barking dogs before but it's unusual to see it go this far."

"We got Roscoe in February, and (Twarozek) has been complaining to the town about him since Memorial Day weekend," Anderson said. "She complained to the dog warden several times. The dog warden investigated, talked to our neighbors and declined to file charges. Our other neighbors told him Roscoe only barks at the mailman or the paperboy, not constantly."