Weekly Weird News for 1 Sept 2023

Hi and welcome to this edition of a curated list of the most interesting stories that probably weren’t headlines in your news feed. Well, knowing some of you, maybe they were. Here’s what I have to say about them.

Nessie News (not really)

First, probably everyone saw the Loch Ness honking-big “mass research/tourist trap” day. Promoters and the media have plugged it for weeks. I’d previously commented that it was an undisguised attempt to bring a bunch of Nessie fans to visit the new center. The first results out were that seekers caught some sounds but hadn’t plugged in their recorders correctly so the “gloops" weren’t recorded. Oh, well. Lakes with rotting stuff on the bottom often go “GLOOP” and heave up gaseous logs some of which may be mistaken for a monster. This is not news. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-66633215

Nessie news has a notoriously low bar. A woman who said she had “most exciting” photos of the creature from 5 years ago, decided to show them off now. Three pictures are available in the NY Post that show humpy and lumpy things (that don’t appear to be consistent) in water. It’s not clear how large they were or even if they were taken in the Loch at all. But I notice the waves in the photos which are not around the objects. There is no indication of any animal parts revealed in the objects at the surface. The woman said the thing was rolling and slowly spinning on the surface. I’m going to guess it was the Log Ness monster or a hoax. In any event, there is no scientific value to these images. https://nypost.com/2023/08/31/new-sighting-of-loch-ness-monster-captured-in-photos/

Lots of interesting equipment was used during the recent search. It’s telling that the results have not been better - it tells us there is nothing there to find. The excuse for this is that it’s an elusive beast, that apparently never breaths or dies and doesn’t eat much. Not convincing. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/loch-ness-monster-search-party-uses-new-tools-to-look-for-an-old-cryptid

Finally, some other researchers claim to have gotten thermal drone footage of a creature. Again, it is a blip that could be any warm thing. It’s entirely unimpressive. The video is being held for a TV show in the near future. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotland-now/first-ever-video-loch-ness-30829144

For the effort, this is really terrible “evidence”. Everyone wishes for a creature to be there so they see what they desperately want to believe.

Brain worm

In other news that probably everyone heard about, but was undeniably Weird, a woman undergoing brain surgery for illness and abnormalities had a living parasitic worm in her brain. It was the first time this kind of live roundworm was ever found in any mammal’s brain. And, this is the first-ever human case of Ophidascaris robertsi roundworm ever, which is common to carpet pythons in Australia. After identification of the still-living organism, the stunned physicians treated the patient with other anti-parasitic medications in case there were more. It is suspected she ingested the roundworm eggs from eating native grasses near a lake where carpet pythons are common. Everyone, wash your greens thoroughly. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/28/live-worm-living-womans-brain-australia-depression-forgetfulness and https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-roundworm-parasite-23845/

Mystery booms this week

A loud boom rattled a community in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania this week. Police received several calls and investigated. No one could find evidence of an explosion. It seemed too localized to be a sonic boom. It was not a measurable earthquake. It could have been a very shallow one but that would not be common for this area. What is common is karst. Back in 2021, a loud underground noise was attributed to natural underground openings in the limestone elsewhere in Central PA. It’s hard to say the same thing happened here but it’s one possibility that was not mentioned in any of the news reports. https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/source-of-ground-shaking-thud-in-upper-macungie-remains-unknown/article_bdc02694-437a-11ee-b481-2f800474ff4e.html

Mystery knocking

This story about subterranean sound was much weirder, even spooky. A neighborhood in New Zealand has been experiencing thumping sounds coming from the ground for almost two months. And no one can determine the cause. The sound is localized and goes on from usually at night, keeping people awake and on edge. The storm water pipes were suspected to be the cause but inspection showed nothing was amiss. The noise sometimes is so loud that it seems to shake the houses. It’s almost poltergeist-like. Check out the news video below to hear the sounds. That would certainly freak me out. https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/132840594/mysterious-rumblings-in-the-night-shake-homes-on-aucklands-north-shore

Pentagon sponsors UFO reporting site

The US government is still spending time and effort on the UFO/UAP topic, setting up a website for professionals to securely report sightings of strange objects and for the rest of us to see those reports. Those with a grounded worldview still might find the reports interesting. Pilots and military personnel are no different than most of us in being confused by what they see in the sky. The Dept of Defense press secretary said, “The website will serve as a one-stop shop for all publicly available information related to AARO and UAP.” The site, which is not yet live, will include reports of what might eventually be revealed as balloons or drones as well; the focus is not on “spaceships” but on any sky anomaly, making good on a promise to have a collection point for these reports. https://cosmiclog.com/2023/08/31/pentagons-new-ufo-website-is-still-a-work-in-progress/

St Elmo’s fire show

Air Force personnel had a wild experience while moving out of the path of Hurricane Idalia. The plane experienced St Elmo’s fire phenomenon where the charged atmosphere sparks around an object. The tiny blue lightning sparks surround the plane. This is not particularly dangerous for the protected crew. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-st-elmos-fire-hurricane-idalia-video-macdill-air-force-base

Giant footprints revealed

The drought in Texas has revealed fantastic new sets of dinosaur trackways in Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose. This area is famous for dino trackways that Creationists say show humans walking alongside dinosaurs. That has been long debunked, but the dino trackways are ubiquitous. The low levels in the Paluxy River exposed the huge footprints. Researchers catalog them before the levels return. https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/texas-drought-dinosaur-tracks-18336009.php

Ice Fall in California

Another ice fall occurred on August 8, and is just reaching the news now. It happened in Big Bear, California. A large block of ice fell on a home at 10:30 PM. It was suspected to have come from a plane that was descending and the collected ice fell off. If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, you know that this happens pretty often around the world. We never hear from the FAA about the source. https://abc7.com/falling-ice-big-bear-jon-and-renae-leclair-southern-california/13720029/

Alligator in New Jersey

In Middlesex, New Jersey, an alligator has taken up residence in a local park. Officials are having trouble finding and removing it. It seems the reports over the past week do describe a 3-4 ft long alligator that was let loose by someone who could no longer keep it. But, you never know. Remember the Germany lion that wasn’t? There was no lion. https://www.nj.com/news/2023/08/missing-nj-alligator-is-spotted-then-vanishes-again-during-search-in-local-park.html

I hope that someone gets my…

Staying in New Jersey, here is an update to the message in a bottle story from last week. The bottle that landed in North Wildwood was launched 4 years ago near Bray, Ireland by Aoife Byrne who was a big fan of The Police. She thought it would be cool to act out their famous song “Message in a Bottle”. https://themessenger.com/news/new-jersey-beachgoers-find-message-in-a-bottle-that-took-four-years-to-cross-atlantic-track-down-irish-girl-who-authored-note

Duckies, get into my belly!

A French Bulldog in China snacked on his owner’s collection of rubber ducks. Originally, the owner thought maybe he ate a few which was bad news for the dog. A quick thinking vet took Xrays that showed many as part of the stomach contents which was likely to block up digestion. So surgery was required and 11 were removed! The dog is now fine. https://nypost.com/2023/08/27/resilient-french-bulldog-wolfs-down-11-rubber-ducks/

Monkey, get off my back!

Finally, enjoy this prize winning photo of a monkey riding a deer from Japan. (Credit: Atsuyuki Ohshima) https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66604630

That’s it for this week.

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