Strange Happenings on Mission Viejo Rooftop Spur Police Call

Unearthly rites in Mission Viejo? The Saddleback Valley News reported that an anonymous caller “heard strange noises coming” from a nearby residence at 3:30 a.m.

“She went outside with a flashlight and saw people on the roof. A little while later, a blue SUV sped off,” the newspaper continued.

“The caller then saw the woman who lives there walking around inside and saw her turn off the lights.”

And what did arriving officers discover? The “residents had been observing the planet Mars.”

Just the place for a disappearing act: Dan Shepard found an earthly warning while wandering through a hydrothermal area in New Zealand (see photo).

Mystery of the day: In Monterey Park, Jack Hallin observed a license plate that some might find unpalatable, not to mention curious (see photo).

More food for thought: Jim and Leigh Gaston noticed a school’s announcement about a barbecue featuring some fresh meat (see photo).

Tour de Furniture? The Dana Point News said a woman complained to authorities that “her peace was being disturbed by the neighbor upstairs riding an exercise bicycle.”

The decline of the English language: In John Shannon’s novel “City of Strangers,” melancholy detective Jack Liffey spots an artificial rock store in West L.A.

It was “called LA ROX, and because of the capitals, Jack Liffey couldn’t work out whether it was meant to be La Rox or L.A. Rox. All in all, he wasn’t very fond of cute ad-spelling departures like ‘Sell-a-bration’ and ‘Rite-weigh,’ because they just seemed to crank up the level of anxiety, a world that didn’t believe in its own rules.”

As another season goes down the toilet ... : A colleague tells me that the Dodgers have begun to post advertisements in the stadium restrooms.

Must be the weather: The Rancho Santa Margarita News said an angry customer at an ice cream shop “reportedly threw her ice cream on another customer when a worker there did not give her the correct change.” Wonder if it was Rocky Road?

miscelLAny: Enjoy September while you have it. Westways magazine says that the most serious auto accidents in California occur in August and October. Most dangerous hours on the road: 5 to 7 p.m. Please don’t read this column while driving at those hours.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.