Older MS Word File Corrupted and Icon Changed to Jack-in-the-Box after Sierra Update

I noticed this after updating to Sierra 10.12.1 on my MacBook Pro. But I'm not absolutely certain it didn't happen prior to the update.

After updating Sierra, I clicked on the links provided to see what changes were made to the operating system and If I needed to do any security updates. While reading Apple's info on their site, I was also checking to see if any system prefs had changed and I was randomly checking folders and files.

I came across an MS Word file in my documents folder and noticed that the extension was missing and the icon looked odd. I did a "Get Info" and saw that the icon was a jack-in-the-box. I've never seen this icon before, plus jack-in-the-boxes kinda creep me out anyway. The odd thing was that the preview areas of both the "Get Info" and finder windows showed the normal MS Word for Mac 2011 icon. Additionally, the extension wasn't just hidden, it was gone from the filename altogether. This was an old file, I believe it was from 2004, but I'm not certain because I no longer have the file. Anyway, it was definitely created in at least 1 previous version of MS Word and about 4 computers ago. It was a simple apple pie recipe that listed a few ingredients and a fairly short direction paragraph, about 1/3 page. I clicked on the top bar of the "Get Info" window and it opened up in Word. Immediately, the icon changed to the square black executable file icon. Strange. I then noticed that the formatting was all over the place. Words were missing and characters had been replaced. I saved it as a .txt file and decided I would open it in text edit, making sure it was a text only document. Many that would strip out anything that might have corrupted it and I could preserve the text. I haven't opened the file at least a year, but I know I looked at it last fall and it was fine.

It opened in Text Edit, but as Rich Text. I selected all to make sure some of the text just didn't turn white, becoming invisible against the white background. I noticed the the background icon on the "Show Font" window was half black and half white, split with a diagonal. As a matter of fact, the entire "Show Font" window looked a bit odd, larger than usual and the font size column on the right appeared to be cut off. When I went to change the color to generic CMYK white in the slider view, I noticed something else I've never seen before. I pulled down the menu in the color palette and selected "Generic CMYK." Once I did this, the palette's menu bar got light in color. When I pulled down the menu again, the check mark was gone. Also, the first time I selected each slider box (or tabbed to it) I could change the number, but it did not effect the slider. I had to select it a second time. This moved the slider, but also added a thick blue halo around the slider's handle. There seemed to be two sets of settings, one for the light bar and one for the dark bar.

After several attempts, I was able to change the background to generic white and the text to generic black, but every time I selected "convert to plain text," it would reconvert back to RTF. I finally was able to make the conversion, but now it wouldn't save. I knew the file must've been corrupt or perhaps it was a virus, rare as they are on Macs. So, I trashed the whole thing. Good thing I have a printout from a couple years ago in my recipe box.

I searched the web for this mysterious icon and got a whole gamut of answers, each differing from the next. Well I know this is a long post to read, but the forum posting directions say "give details." If anyone else has experienced this, I would like to know if you discovered the source of the issue. Again, its a very old file and might be just be past its life span. But as I said, jack-in-the-boxes creep me out. (Clowns too!)