9 of the weirdest Pennsylvania news stories from 2024

Pennsylvania news is often just plain weird, and the commonwealth’s headlines in 2024 were no exception.

Perhaps the biggest Pennsylvania news items in 2024 involved the presidential election and the fact that Pennsylvania was a key swing state. But the strangest Pennsylvania news stories concerned celestial events that happen once in a lifetime and surprises like an emu lost in a suburb.

Jan. 25, 2024: Montgomery County residents call 911 to report odd smells

In late January, people in eastern Montgomery County and parts of Philadelphia noticed a strange scent in the air. Reports varied on the smell, with various residents describing it as smelling like something burning, like trash, or like chlorine. Whatever the smell was, it clearly stank. And it stank so bad that people were calling 911 about it!

It turns out that the odor was due to a phenomenon known as an atmospheric inversion, which occurs when warm air traps cooler air toward the ground. Pollutants are trapped in that air, causing poor air quality, and in the case of Montgomery County in January, a particularly stinky week.

March 12, 2024: Mold whistleblower lawsuit moves forward

Molds can produce serious health problems, stemming from allergens as well as possible toxic substances. And if you talk about it, you can even get fired! At least, that’s what a whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus staffer claims.

In March, the Commonwealth Court affirmed that whistleblower Marcel Ingram can move forward with her lawsuit, which alleges that she was fired in 2022 because she tested for mold in the West Newton office of state Rep. Eric Davanzo’s (R-Westmoreland) and got a positive result. According to the suit, Ingram had been experiencing headaches and burning eyes and was directed by the Republican Caucus legal counsel to test for mold. When she shared the positive results with Davanzo, the lawsuit claims, he was furious. Ingram was fired a week after she tested for mold.

April 8, 2024: Total solar eclipse visible over Erie

Sure, there’s a scientific explanation for a total solar eclipse, but isn’t it still sort of weird that the moon blotted out the sun for a few minutes in April? And also, that 100,000 people descended on Erie to see it?

North America’s April 8 total solar eclipse was visible at full totality (meaning the moon fully covered the sun) in just part of Pennsylvania — the northwestern sliver that contains Erie and surrounding towns. Other places in Pennsylvania saw just a portion of the eclipse, which isn’t nearly as impressive. And the next total solar eclipse visible from Pennsylvania won’t occur until 2079! 

The April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse is visible from Meadville, just south of Erie. (Kalena Thomhave)

April 26, 2024: Lancaster County man receives $34.6 billion state tax bill

Before you think taxes are high, consider the Lancaster County man who received a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue citing $34.6 billion in taxes due. Specifically, the letter requested $34,576,826,561.47.

While some receiving such a notice would immediately fall into an anxiety spiral, taxpayer in question Barry Tangert “knew it was an obvious blunder,” as he told WGAL News. He quickly got the matter resolved with the Revenue Department and did not end up paying more than half of Pennsylvania’s state budget in taxes.

July 4, 2024: Runaway emu lost and found in Bucks County

On the evening of July 4, a Bucks County community was visited by a runaway emu. Not unlike many pets and other animals, the six-foot-tall bird was spooked by Fourth of July fireworks and escaped from its enclosure at Earth’s Best Organics farm. The poor thing was spotted wandering around Newtown Township in the pouring rain that night. When Newtown neighbors tried to corral it, the bird was further spooked and ran into the woods. Farmworkers were able to find the emu and bring her back to the farm the following day.

October 2024: Pennsylvania sees the northern lights

Most people travel far north, like Arctic Circle-north, to get a glimpse of the northern lights, the brilliant light show caused by charged particles interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. But this past year, Pennsylvania residents were treated to a magnificent display when the aurora borealis graced our skies on a few fall nights.

With more solar storms on the horizon, Pennsylvanians may even get an opportunity to see the northern lights again in 2025!

The northern lights appear over Nockamixon State Park in October 2024. (123 Chroma Pixels/ CC BY-SA 2.0)

Nov. 16, 2024: Jay Leno falls down 60-foot hill in Greensburg, then performs that night

It’s not so strange that someone fell down a hill, but it’s kind of weird that it was Jay Leno in Greensburg leaving a Hampton Inn to get some wings. Leno was attempting to walk from his Hampton Inn hotel to a nearby restaurant, but as anyone in western Pennsylvania (read: this writer) has experienced, trying to take the shortest path when it’s down a slope can end with bruises. Before taking his tumble, Leno recalled saying, “Well, the hill doesn’t look that steep—” (I’ve been there, Jay!).

But Leno is 74, so a fall like that is not merely humbling. He broke his wrist, hit his head, and hurt his eye to the point that he soon put on an eye patch. But, happy ending: he still performed live that night at Greensburg’s Palace Theatre for a crowd of more than 1,500.

Dec. 9, 2024: Manhunt comes to an end at Altoona McDonald’s 

After a five-day FBI manhunt, police apprehended the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin at a McDonald’s in Altoona after an employee at the restaurant called authorities. The suspect, Luigi Mangione, allegedly shot and killed CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4. After Mangione’s arrest was made public, the Altoona McDonald’s was inundated with a flurry of one-star reviews.

Dec. 13, 2024: Mysterious drones spotted over eastern Pennsylvania

In mid-November, thousands of witnesses began reporting strange drone sightings over New Jersey, with some convinced they were seeing UFO activity. Sightings continued over the following weeks, spreading to eastern Pennsylvania in mid-December, with reports of the mysterious lights making Pennsylvania news from the Greater Philadelphia area and up through northeastern Pennsylvania. The peculiar sightings inspired resident anxiety as well as a mix of responses from elected officials.

President-elect Donald Trump suggested the government “shoot them down,” while a joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Department of Defense said that the sightings were “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.