Perhaps mindful of how, for centuries, armies around the world have been “weaponizing” animals — even pigs and birds — to terrify the enemy, security at the Pentagon did not take any chances when it spotted in its security area something or someone snooping around “wearing a coat of feathers and keeping close to the ground.”
The intrusion happened just before 7 AM on Monday and Pentagon security went into action.
In its “Inside Story” about the security breach, the Washingtonian describes how the intruder was finally cornered under a truck.
“Catching this (“expletive” deleted)* took a bit of teamwork” according to the Washingtonian. ““We were able to corner it with another police officer who is part of the security point,” the Washingtonian quotes a Sergeant Ballena.
The Pentagon is tight-lipped about the security breach, the exact location of the breach and about the identity of the suspect. However, it is known that the intruder was taken into custody and transported to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, Virginia.
While the intruder’s name is still not known, several names have been thrown around. Among them: “Hentagon,” “Chick Cheney,” “Colonel Sanderson,” “Major Clucks,” “Ken.” “Penny Henny” or “Henny Penny” seem to be the most likely.
As to the appearance, all that is known is that the intruder has a red comb and wattles and was wearing a feathery brown coat.
More specifically, the suspect is believed to be a Rhode Island Red Jones, described variously as “beautiful,” “sweet” and “nervous.” And she is not talking.
Now, several questions are being asked. Among them:
• “How did Henny Penny cross the road to the Pentagon?”
• “Which came first: Henny Penny or some scouting egg?
Answers which the public would like to know.
Henny Penny has already gained wide notoriety.
Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Song dedicated the song “Chicken at the Pentagon” to Penny Henny”
I am sure some studio is already working on the thriller “The Chicken Who Came in from the Cold.”
=====
* The “expletive” deleted is “motherclucker “
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.