Strange situation with AirPods 2!!

I have a strange situation. My son lost one of my 2nd gen AirPods on an airplane recently, we had to dismantle a tray under the seat to get it back. I popped it into the case and we de-planed. Later while waiting I took out my AirPods to use them and noticed the one that fell was very, very dirty. It also had a bunch of gunk in it that was NOT from me. Opened the settings on my phone, turns out it was NOT my AirPod (bizarre, right?? Same gen, left ear, just happened to be right where my son lost mine.) I decided to clean and disinfect it, might as well keep it I guess.

After doing this I tried to pair it. Nothing worked. I tried ALL the tricks online. When I open the case lid, it will show me the new left AirPod is 100% charged with the lightning bolt. But when I open the AirPods in settings, it does not show its charge.

i have held down the button, which would flash the case white briefly then back to Amber. Left them charging. Put my phone nearby for firmware update. Tried pairing just the one. Forgot the device several times and started over. Left both pods in the case, open lid, charging for half an hour, reconnected… nothing. I can see it’s charged but not will NOT pair.

Further to this, my son had found a 2nd gen AirPod case in a second location with just a right pod (we tried to find the owner, no luck). I have tried removing my pod from the case and trying to pair two new, I have tried combinations of all pods in the found case. Nothing.

I ended up giving up for a while, then came back last night to plug in my original case with the two new pods still in it, left it charging (plugged into the wall, new Apple cable) and although I can see both pods charged, but my original case is at 0%! It will NOT hold a charge. I’m trying to firmware update but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything? but now it will continuously flash white if I hold the button, or it might flash white and then Amber and then white. It’s connecting to my phone sometimes, other times not.

last odd part is that the new, found right pod has easily paired, but left (airplane pod) is still being an ***. I’ve inspected it thoroughly and it does NOT appear to be a knockoff. I can see it on both settings and “connect” animation, but it won’t join the case or other pods. And now with my case dying! Why?????