Special early and short WWN 28 June 2022

Sorry, everyone. I’m out of town this week and won’t be able to do a Weekly Weird Newsletter.

I’ll resume regular newsletters on July 8.

But just to hold you over, here are a handful of clips I collected so far this week.

Genius toddler

A two-year-old girl is the youngest accepted to Mensa. The Kentucky toddler picked up reading already and hopefully has a bright future ahead. We sure need smart ones as future leaders! https://www.wlky.com/article/high-iq-society-mensa-oldham-counttoddler/40382779

Deadly lightning storm in California

A strong electrical storm hit California last week. According to record-keepers, the lightning from the 24-hour span was almost 9% of the total lightning detected in California in 2020 and 2021 combined. The event was unusual. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/lightning-strikes-recorded-in-California-17258523.php One woman walking her dogs was killed by a lightning strike that blasted the pavement where she walked and set off a car alarm. The dogs and the woman were found deceased. Several fires were also likely started from strikes that accompanied the storm. https://www.foxla.com/news/lightning-strike-death-pico-rivera

Check out the real-time lightning map https://www.lightningmaps.org/

Catfished

A young child was pierced in the chest by a catfish barb in Florida. Catfish have spines or barbs along their fins. The spines contain mild venom that can make the wound worse. It’s not clear how the child got the injury but they experienced labored breathing and were airlifted to the hospital where they are expected to recover. The local news outlet said the child was “stung” but this is not quite right. The spines are there to deter predators from eating them. Catfish must be handled with care. https://www.tampabay.com/news/breaking-news/2022/06/20/child-stabbed-in-chest-by-catfish-barb-in-pasco-airlifted-to-tampa-officials-say/

Catfished Part 2

Geese are disappearing from a Cumbria, UK lake, taken down from something below. While people fear it’s a crocodile, the evidence for that is very poor (no one has seen it). It’s a fish, likely a large catfish or pike. https://www.lancs.live/news/local-news/what-lurking-ullswater-man-witnessed-24334020

But an alligator did escape from an enclosure in Missouri after a storm. It was only 2 1/2 feet long and was safely recaptured. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/06/27/escaped-alligator-StLouis-Missouri-captured/6321656349290/

Test car falls from building

Curiously enough, last week, I had a story about cars that fell off of a cliff and had to be cleaned up. No one was apparently in those cars. This week, a bizarre accident occurred in Shanghai when two testers in a Nio electric vehicle plummetted off a building and died in the crash. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61919581 The car maker was quick to say it was not a defect with the vehicle but it was awfully quick to come to a conclusion. Logical questions are being asked about why a car was being tested high off the ground in conditions where there was an insufficient barrier.

Suspects arrested in needle attacks

In France, authorities have charged some individuals in what they think is a series of needle attacks. Several suspects were detained for pricking or injecting people at clubs or concerts. But, astoundingly, the evidence for injury and criminal action seems very poor across the continent for such attacks. Doctors didn’t even confirm that the victims were injected with anything at all. The phantom needle attacks are at least in part due to a social panic. But real encounters could be feeding the panic. Some of the suspects and some of the victims in these attacks were drunk and can’t coherently recall what really happened. https://www.abc27.com/news/entertainment/suspects-charged-over-puzzling-needle-attacks-in-france/

As always, please send me any interesting links from your part of the world.

Extra!

As a special treat, enjoy this excellent compilation of all the notorious (and fake) “thunderbird” photos collected by Kevin J. Guhl. If you’ve ever seen a “thunderbird” photo, it’s probably here. And if you think you saw one someplace else, you probably didn’t. https://thunderbirdphoto.com/f/thunderbird-photos-exposed-a-gallery-of-fakes-recreations