Weird News: Blind Man Booted from Flight; UFO Claim In Suffolk

As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to inspiring tales of community brotherhood. But some stories are just plain weird. Here are some of the stranger headlines from the past seven days.

Please Remove All Guide Dogs From the Aisles

A blind man and his guide dog were removed from a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to MacArthur Airport that was eventually entirely cancelled after being ordered by a flight attendant to “stow” his guide dog Doxy under his seat on Nov. 13.

Albert Rizzi, of Bellport, said in a video interview with News 12 that there was no place to stow his dog since there was no seat in front of him. He said the dog was instead placed at his feet.

According to Rizzi, an airline attendant became upset claiming that his dog’s paws were partially in the aisle. The plane returned to its gate, and security had Rizzi leave the flight.

After seeing how the man and his dog were treated, passengers began protesting to the point that the pilot cancelled the whole flight. Instead of taking the plane, everyone was brought back to Long Island by bus.

UFO or WTF?

Bayport’s Marc Rubin was riding his bicycle when he saw a white ball falling from the sky over either Patchogue or Sayville Monday.

“This thing I had absolutely no idea what it was,” Rubin said in a NBC New York report. “It had this little curlicue tail at the top and was coming straight down at a 90-degree angle.”

Rubin said that he called it an unidentified falling object, and took two photos.

At the same time, Suffolk County Police received 911 calls and reports of a possible downed plane in Shirley.

According to the report, police looked for a crash and found nothing. Police deputy chief Kevin Fallon told NBC New York that the department’s helicopter pilots believe that it was some type of model rocket or a flare.

The Federal Aviation Administration said that there were no reports of any planes in trouble or any other issues in the sky on Monday. The agency plans to send investigators to talk to Rubin and review his photos.

Bad Timing

A Wantagh man who was charged in a DWI crash on the Southern State Parkway Monday was convicted of manslaughter in the vehicle-related death of a Wantagh High School student in 1984, prosecutors said.

Joseph DeSantis' most recent arrest came on the 29th anniversary of the tragic incident in the parking lot of the Wantagh LIRR station, which left a 17-year-old girl dead.

"I hadn't realized, that. It was one of the worst days of my life," Desantis said when he was told of the coincidence involving both arrests,  "There's not a day in my life I don't think of it."

Now That's One Ugly Campus

A recent survey has Stony Brook University at the top of the list, but the news isn't pretty. In fact, it’s ugly.

The state college has made Travel and Leisure’s list of America’s ugliest college campuses and calls the buildings “bunker-like”.

"Applications to Stony Brook University will likely quadruple in the event of a nuclear winter, the 1960’s bunker-like buildings create an unparalleled sense of Cold War safety,” the report said.

False Alarm?

A 42-year-old Saudi Arabian Airlines supervisor was arrested Friday for allegedly pulling a fire alarm at the Garden City Hotel, Garden City police said.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m. Nov 15. It is unknown why the man, identified as Baha Alsaleh, pulled the alarm, which caused village police and fire departments to rush to the scene, police commissioner Kenneth Jackson said.

The man was staying at the hotel at the time of the incident.

Alsaleh was charged with falsely reporting an incident.