Mysterious mushroom cloud freaks out Beijing

Of all the things you don't want to see when you look up into the sky, a giant mushroom cloud probably ranks pretty high. So Beijing residents can be forgiven for freaking out over the weekend when it looked like evidence of an atomic bomb explosion loomed over their city. Rumors about what caused the multicolored haze flew around the Internet, which -- no surprise here -- led to Chinese police arresting those who dared to suggest online that it was pollution caused by a chemical leak or refinery explosion. The government says the phenomenon was simply an unfortunately shaped cloud that resulted from farmers burning straw in the fields. Wouldn't we see this all the time, then? Just sayin.'