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Grand Canyon prank photo goes viral

WESTMONT, Ill., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- An Illinois woman who appears to be falling from a Grand Canyon ledge in a viral photo said the picture was a prank on her over-protective mother.

Samantha Busch, 22, of Westmont said she sent the photo to her mother and colleagues at the medical auditing company where they both work as a prank after her mother repeatedly warned her about Grand Canyon safety prior to her trip with her boyfriend, ABC News reported Monday.

"For five days up to when we left, my mom had warned me about falling off the cliff or being blown off," Busch said. "So when we were hiking around the corner, I found a good spot where I could stand on the ledge. He angled the camera just right and he took a great picture."

Busch said the photo, which quickly spread across the Internet, did not amuse her mother and coworkers.

"I messaged it to her first and she works for a medical auditing company and there are women who have known me since day one, and they freaked out over it also. I emailed it to them, too, and they were all freaking out over it saying I gave them a heart attack," Busch said.

However, Busch said her mother isn't angry about the prank.

"She's fine. She wasn't even angry. She was just relieved upset," Busch said.

Russians offered end-of-world kit for $27

MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Russians can face the Mayan apocalypse fully prepared thanks to a kit being sold that includes a bottle of vodka and -- as a nod to pessimists -- some rope.

For those who think they might have a chance of surviving whatever comes on Dec. 21, the kits contain other staples: a packet of buckwheat, a can of fish, candles, matches, notepad, pencil, heart and other medication, and soap. It also has a helpful tutorial on post-apocalypse board games to pass the time after the world as we know it comes to an end.

The kits, produced by a local bridal party operator as a joke gift, cost 890 rubles ($27), RIA Novosti reported Monday. Funny or not, the sale of more than 1,000 of the kits prompted local officials to put the kibosh on the operation because special permits are needed to sell alcohol or medication.

The kits are in response to the supposed cataclysm to come at the end to the 5,000-year Mayan calendar, which lists Dec. 21 as its final date.

1868 Bible returns to family

DENVER, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A Denver woman said her genealogy hobby allowed her to recognize a Bible that once belonged to her great-great-grandfather.

Ann Abbott-Stong said she received an email recently from a woman in Arizona with pictures of a Bible and a note asking if the item belonged to her family, KUSA-TV, Denver, reported Monday.

"There was a hand written page and I recognized the writing right away," Abbott-Stong said. "I recognized that it was my family. I knew it was my great, great grandfather who gave it to his oldest son in 1868."

The Bible somehow ended up with another family and was bought recently at an Arizona estate sale. The email said the item was headed for auction.

Abbott-Stong and her family drove 1,500 miles to the auction, where they were surprised when organizers called off the sale of the Bible and gave it to the family for free.

She called the Bible a "missing link" for her genealogy research.

"There's pages of births, marriages and deaths in the bible. There's peacock feather, lace and hair," Abbott-Stong said.

Upside-down U.S. flag stolen

SPOKANE, Wash., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A Washington state man who began flying his U.S. flag upside-down as a protest two weeks ago said the flag has been stolen from his yard.

Greg Carman of Spokane said he placed his flag upside-down on the pole in his front yard as a sign of "distress," KREM-TV, Spokane, reported Monday.

"I had been flying the flag upside-down in protest of a lot of the political things, not just the presidential race. Many things have happened, and I have the right to do that under the First Amendment," Carman said.

He said there was a knock on his door Saturday night, and when he opened the door the flag was gone and a note was left in its place.

"I hate to say it, but nobody came and knocked there to find out why we were distressed," he said. "I think a better statement for them would've been to put it right back up and re-flown it correctly. That would've been a better statement on their part, instead of being thieves."

Carman said he will buy a new flag and fly it upside-down until the first of the year.