There’s an old saying which states certain unlikely things will occur whenever pigs fly. While that adynaton has yet to come true, alligators were close to achieving the dream of pigs yesterday when one was discovered at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.

The alligator, named Allie by those who found and rescued her, was first spotted by a passenger, who then reported the sighting to a maintenance worker: “I was out there, and a passenger had pointed out that there was an alligator up under here. I looked, I said, ‘What?’” stated Tineka Walker of Universal Security.

When Walker radioed for help to wrangle the 24 inch alligator, Chicago Police Officer Anthony Oliver said that they “Figured somebody was messing with us.” Fortunately for the gator and other passengers at the airport, the police handled the situation professionally.

In order to safely remove the animal from the airport, the police contacted the Chicago Herpetological Society. Once the situation was properly assessed, the assembled crew caught the alligator in the most professional way possible – By shooing it into a trashcan with a broomstick.

Once captured, the Chicago Herpetological Society assessed the animal’s health: “It was in pretty bad shape. We’re trying to get it healthy and find a place for it,” reported Jason Hood, the president of the society. A spokesman for the Chicago Herpetological Society also reported that Allie suffered from a metabolic bone deficiency, meaning the alligator’s previous owners did not include enough calcium in the alligator’s diet.

As it currently stands, authorities do not know how the alligator found itself at Terminal 3. However, Twitter came to the rescue once again and clues are starting to emerge. Police and airport administration know that the alligator had to be dropped off by someone, considering “It’s not big enough to operate automatic doors.” That someone may have been spotted by a Twitter user who posted pictures of a man in the airport holding an alligator which looked very similar: “The patterns on an alligator are as unique as your fingerprints. We can actually match this band right here with that band right there,” stated Bob Bavirsha, a reptile rescuer.

Because the alligator is in such bad health, the Chicago Herpetological Society will put the alligator through 6 months of rehabilitation before turning it over to a reptile park.

Image via YouTube