"Of all the beeches, the most curious looking beech is Tortuosa beech, so called for its severely malformed bole. The tortured looking trees, full of twists and holes, are thought to have resulted from a radioactive meteor centuries ago, according to the book "Encyclopedia of Trees," by Hugh Johnson. The trees occur in a line through Denmark, Champagne and Le Cosquer and look like a creation from a horror film. "
Meteors aren't usually radioactive (see quote in this slightly related article:
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space ... index.html) ...