'You May Not Believe': US Driver in 911 Call After Bald Eagle Drops Cat Through Windshield

A US driver was left shocked and narrowly escaped injuries after a cat fell from the sky and crashed through their car windshield. In a 911 call, the unidentified driver, who was riding along a highway near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, said a bald eagle had dropped the feline on the passenger side of the car.

The incident took place on US Route 74 in Swain County, near Bryson City, which is about 65 miles southwest of Asheville, according to a report in The Guardian. As per the audio recording of the exchange, the driver told the dispatcher that they might not believe what had happened to them.

"You may not believe me, but I just had a bald eagle drop a cat through my windshield," the stunned driver said, adding. "It absolutely shattered my windshield."

"OK. I do believe you, honestly," the dispatcher calmly responded. "I had a witness who was like, 'That is the craziest thing I've ever seen," the caller added while reeling from the crash.

As the driver continued narrating the incident, the 911 responder offered some assurance, saying, "Oh my goodness. Let's see. I've heard crazier."

The driver confirmed that the cat died and was lying on the other side of the road.

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Eagle Knocks Out Drone

This is not the first instance when a bald eagle has made headlines in the US. In 2020, a bald eagle took down a government drone at a Michigan lake. Environmental quality analyst Hunter King was piloting a Phantom 4 Pro Advanced quadcopter drone to map the erosion of the shoreline when he noticed the signal was fading.

A few seconds later, the device started spiralling down towards the lake after a bald eagle tore off the device's propeller. The department stated that the incident “could have been a territorial squabble with the electronic foe, or just a hungry eagle".

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), there are around 316,700 bald eagles in the US, which is considered endangered since the 1980s.