ON THIS DAY IN WEIRD

On This Day in Weird, October 4...

1992: Ten marines patrolling their base in San Bernardino County, California, report chasing a "giant insect" roughly "the size of a small dog" at midday, unable to catch it. As one marine described it in a report to the GCBRO, it was "maybe 6 inches tall and about 18 inches long, very skinny; it was darting back and forth along the ramp, under and between the vehicles, at very high speeds, covering hundreds of yards in seconds... It appeared to be a giant wasp, black and red, it was too long to catch with a five gallon bucket, because believe me we tried to catch it for about an hour.  It moved so fast, that you could not see if it moved at top speed at distances of about 10-30 foot. One second it would be in front of you and then it would dart away so fast you could not see it, and then it would be 15 feet to your left.  It was over 18 inches long, about 6 inches tall, and its head was a little bigger than a golf ball but more football shaped.  It had wings but never did fly."