Every 18-wheeler has a little mystery to it. You never really know what's in the back of a trailer, unless a crash reveals its secret contents. From the absurd to the repulsive, these are what Jalopnik readers chose as the ten weirdest highway spills.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Photo Credit: Winslow Townson for The Boston Globe
10.) Two million Euros in Italy
Suggested By: GeeHalen
Why it's bizarre: This was certainly one of the most difficult spills to clean up, as well as the most disruptive of traffic: two million Euros spilled onto the a busy north-south Autostrada in southern Italy back in July, 2010. The coin-carrying truck burst a tire, crashed, stopping traffic for everyone to pick up whatever cash they could.
Motorists made off with somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000 Euros worth of coins.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
9.) 26 dead alligators
Suggested By: $kaycog
Why it's bizarre: One would imagine that a truckload of dead alligators spilling onto the highway would cause a great deal of chaos, maybe some accidents, or a litany of other possible disruptions. Nope. Not when it happens in Florida.
It was near Ft. Lauderdale back in 2000 when the alligators fell out of a refrigerated truck that had lost control and plowed into the median. Authorities closed one lane and the alligators were put back on their way to the processing plant. That's all.
Photo Credit: truckspills.com
8.) The Seattle Syrup Spill of 1947
Suggested By: Rocket99
Why it's bizarre: The once-famous "Great Syrup Spill" just involved a syrup tanker bursting a hose and spilling syrup all over the railroad tracks by the Seattle waterfront.
What made it famous was that local personality Ivar Haglund owned a restaurant across the street and managed to get himself photographed working some of that syrup onto a fresh batch of pancakes. Haglund managed to get his picture featured in papers worldwide, promoting a little spill into an international sensation.
Photo Credit: Seattle's Big Blog
7.) 35 dead bodies in Mexico
Suggested By: lamakachop
Why it's bizarre: In one of the most appalling scenes in Mexico's drug violence, armed gunmen dumped two truckfulls of dead bodies onto the highway in downtown Boca del Rio, a coast city on the Gulf of Mexico.
It happened right in rush hour by the city's biggest shopping mall. Other motorists were held at bay at gunpoint. Weird is not the right word; let's just hope this never happens again.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
6.) Deadly Molasses
Suggested By: Kiwi_Commander
Why it's bizarre: There have been many molasses spills on highways, but it was the deadly Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919 that was by far the strangest of all.
A molasses storage tank burst on an unusually warm January day, launching some 2.3 million gallons of molasses onto Boston streets at an estimated 35 mph. 21 were killed and another 150 were injured in one of the most chillingly absurd spills of all time.
Photo Credit: Boston Globe
5.) The most beautiful crash ever
Suggested By: _Engineer
Why it's bizarre: A printer truck carrying 8,000 gallons of toner rolled near Pebody, Mass. back in March, making for what is surely the prettiest crash in history.
No one was harmed in the spill and the ink was water soluble, so enjoy the stunning images of the event without guilt.
4.) Penguins and an octopus in E. Texas
Suggested By: burglar
Why it's bizarre: A truck carrying animals from the Indianapolis Zoo lost control and flipped several times out in East Texas back in 2006.
24 penguins (four of which were killed) and other animals, including an octopus, were thrown from the wreck.
Photo Credit: Dallas News
3.) 14 million bees
Suggested By: nibbyS500
Why it's bizarre: Yes, it's a highway…COVERED IN BEES!
Earlier this year some 400 beehives spilled out onto an Idaho highway, and somehow, no one was hurt.
2.) A tomahawk missile in the Bronx
Suggested By: Baja Bug & Volvo =
Why it's bizarre: The New York Times reported that the tomahawk missile that was knocked down onto I-95 near the Bronx was only a dummy missile used for training exercises, so there was no immediate threat of arms proliferation in New York City, but still, what the hell?
Photo Credit: truckspills.com
1.) Sperm whale guts in Taiwan
Suggested By: Kiwi_Commander
Why it's bizarre: A sperm whale washed up in Thailand back in 2004, and while the whale was getting hauled over to a research center for an autopsy, it exploded.
Gasses had built up in the whale with enough pressure to burst through the carcass itself, spewing whale insides out onto the street and nearby shops.
Adding to the strangeness of the event, the whale became something of a tourist attraction when it was finally cleaned up, as many men came to see its large-even-for-a-whale five-foot-long penis.
Photo Credit: Taiwan Apple Daily