COW CRISIS

Armed with one toy weapon in each hand, David Canterbury swung the Star Wars light sabers at three customers in a Toys R Us store in Oregon on December 14 last year.

The would-be Jedi then launched an attack at police officers waiting for him outside the store, successfully deflecting a stun gun dart, according to police at the scene. He was also said to have been mumbling something incoherently.

Judge Kenneth Walker handed the man a 45-day jail sentence, after he pleaded no contest to charges of assault and resisting arrest. The man was also submitted for a mental health evaluation.

The shark was spotted by the pilot at an altitude of 7,000 ft over Christchurch International Airport in New Zealand. Glen Kenny, president of the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association, explained the inflatable shark actually had very little bite.

'The engine probably wouldn't stop, but it would do a bit of damage,' he said. 'Helium is an inert gas, so there's no issue in that regard. The biggest hazard would be startling the pilot.'

The bizarre sighting was just one of a string of unusual flying shark sightings across New Zealand, thanks to the popular Christmas gift known as Air Swimmers - remote-controlled helium fish.