LIGHTS OUT

THERE WAS A 35-MINUTE POWER OUTAGE IN OREGON . . . BECAUSE A BIRD DROPPED A 14-INCH FISH ON SOME POWER LINES???

On Wednesday morning, people were without power for 35 minutes in West Salem, Oregon. That's because some utility lines were knocked out by . . . a 14-INCH FISH. That's right . . . a FISH.

So what happened? Well, no one really knows for sure, but the working theory is that an Osprey . . . the large birds that are sometimes called sea hawks . . . had plucked the fish out of the water. But on the way back to its nest, the bird accidentally dropped the fish . . . and it landed on the utility lines.

According to a spokesman for the Oregon Public Utility Commission, "This is the first instance we've heard of a fish causing a power outage [although] cooked squirrel is pretty common." (Statesman Journal)

(--Check out a photo of the charred fish . . .)