Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.com

I always enjoy a good “anomalous falls from the sky” story, and this is one of the goofier examples I’ve found.  The “Tampa Bay Times,” September 3, 1969:

PUNTA GORDA - It rained golf balls Monday night. 

Well, not really, but it seemed that way to the Punta Gorda Police Department and the Charlotte County Sheriff's Department. 

The night began innocently enough; it was raining and had been raining but that's nothing new. Policemen are a hardy breed and are used to anything, almost, that is. 

But not golf balls, dozens and dozens and dozens of them, were in the gutters, on the street, along the sidewalks and at Punta Gorda Isles. 

Lt. Clarence Walter of the police department tried to convince people that it rained golf balls, not simply five inches, as he began to pick up golf balls.

Patrolman Wade Saurs and John Hause picked up golf balls and then more golf balls. Bill Moore of the security patrol brought in a satchel full and said he was tired of picking them up. 

A check of the country clubs turned up nothing, except more golf balls, but these were supposed to be there. 

So sheriff's department night dispatcher Coleman Naughton found himself staring at a basket full. Punta Gorda Policewoman Bonnie Zimmerman yesterday kept a basket full company. 

The mystery remains.