A two-story inflatable jack-o'-lantern broke loose and rolled through Cary, North Carolina, after sudden wind gusts, farm hands secured it in about a minute with no one hurt.
Workers at Phillips Farm got the oversized lawn ornament back under control almost as fast as it escaped, and the owner says nobody was ever in danger.
The giant jack-o'-lantern took flight on a Sunday as remnants of Hurricane Isaias moved through the area and a tornado warning hung over the afternoon. The Associated Press reported the two-story inflatable tumbled along a post-and-rail fence, past a church, and on down the road before the crew stopped it.
A twister reportedly touched down about a quarter mile away. That was enough weather to turn a holiday decoration into a short-lived runaway.
Farm workers first skipped inflating the pumpkin because of the tornado warning. When the sun came out, Michael Phillips’ dad, Lee Phillips, decided to pump it up anyway, classic black triangular eyes and a lopsided grin included.
Then the wind arrived.
Michael Phillips, owner of Phillips Farm, described the moment the calm broke.
"All of a sudden, we started getting like 35-, 40-mile-an-hour (56-64 kilometer) wind gusts out of nowhere,"
he said. He added:
"And then, `Bam.’ It just started going."
“It just went crazy,” Phillips said of the escape. The inflatable rolled along the fence line, passed the church, and headed down the road while workers scrambled.
They had the situation under control in about a minute. Phillips said no one was ever in any danger.
After the chase, the farm did not leave the jack-o'-lantern to fate. The wayward squash was lashed down with paracord, baling twine, and corkscrew spikes, then tied off to two tractors.
Phillips was blunt about the new setup.
"Unless the tractors fly away, it’s not going anywhere,"
He also noted there were still six weeks of hurricane season left and said he was not taking any chances. That is plain farm sense: secure the gear, respect the weather, and keep people clear.
Video of the rolling pumpkin spread fast. Social media users jumped on the footage, and some turned it into memes, including bits playing on an alien creature destroying a city.
Phillips said the attention has not let up.
"I still wake up every morning... and have 80 to 150 notifications of people commenting on the videos."
He is not complaining. “It’s the best advertising we could ask for,” Phillips said. A brief scare, a quick recovery, and a free spotlight for a family farm heading into Halloween season.
No injuries. No big damage report. No call for a task force. Just wind, a giant plastic pumpkin, and workers who handled it in a minute.
In a country that often turns every odd moment into a crisis, Cary got a simpler lesson: tie it down, keep your head, and let the memes sort themselves out.
