My second favorite...
It seems the US Federal Aviation Administration has a unique device for testing the strength of windshields on airplanes. The device is a gun that launches a dead chicken at a plane's windshield at approximately the speed the plane flies. The theory is that if the windshield doesn't crack from the carcass impact, it'll survive a real collision with a bird during flight.
The British were very interested in this and wanted to test a windshield on a brand new, speedy locomotive they're developing. They borrowed the FAA's chicken launcher, loaded the chicken and fired. The ballistic chicken shattered the windshield, went through the engineer's chair, broke an instrument panel and embedded itself in the back wall of the engine cab.
The stunned Brits asked the FAA to recheck the test to see if everything was done correctly. The FAA reviewed the test thoroughly and had only one recommendation:
"Use a thawed chicken."
I remember that story. It showed up in Aviation Week & Space Technology along with with a high speed camera shot of a chicken blasted out of the cannon enroute to an F-15 windshield (canopy). The picture caption ended with the rather cryptic summary "...it did not survive."
The next issue's Letters to the Editor was packed with reader questions on whether they were talking about the chicken or the windshield.