Weekly Weird News for 10 December 2021
Snake in a can and spikes of sand
Welcome to another curated collection of weird news bits you may have missed. It’s a bit chilly out there but I’m feeling warmed by the increasing numbers of you who are reading this newsletter. I hope you are enjoying a dose of off-beat info every Friday. I try to skip the usual and point out what you might have missed by avoiding fringe news sites (which I recommend because there is most chaff and no wheat). Here’s the cream of wheat for this week.
Mysterious moon hut
This story made most news outlets but I linked to the best source below. China’s moon rover, Yutu 2, captured an anomalous protrusion on the surface of the far side of moon. The extremely boring photo displays an indistinct cube-shape on the horizon. A Chinese science channel unfortunately referred to it as a “hut” or “house”. So “mystery hut” started trending as other media outlets lost all reason in virtually pontificating about the object. Everyone else followed along in a parade of stupid headlines that suggested the object was man-made when it was almost certainly a boulder created by a previous impact. According to all the sources, the rover is continuing to move towards the object for a closer look. https://www.space.com/china-yutu-2-moon-rover-cube-shaped-object-photos
Floating angel video in Yemen was faked
AFP, a leading global fact-checking organization, exposed a faked video of a “sky creature” in Yemen that was rapidly circulating on Facebook and Instagram. The video shows a thin humanoid figure clothed in a flowing silver hooded garment floating in the sunny sky. It was meant to look like an angel. The video was created by an artist using animation effects. https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9TT6AH-1
There is also a video of how he created it. Online videos should no longer be considered good evidence for any extraordinary claim. Yet, they get shared and promoted heavily. https://www.yahoo.com/now/video-sky-creature-over-yemen-035948022.html
Tainted pizza dough
Around Halloween, I reminded everyone of the fake stories of tainted candy that circulate every year. But food product tampering does happen. People usually spot the problem especially if it really is something obvious like razor blades. A guy in Maine was sentenced to years in jail for putting blades and screws in pizza dough after he was fired from the company in October of 2020. Apparently, no one was injured. The man was apologetic. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-oddities-health-crime-maine-8720113a5fd032ace38abda7cf40e9cc
Brooklyn mystery noise solved
A mystery noise described as a mechanical chirp or a high-pitched, repeating whirr was really bugging residents in Brooklyn Heights. As is typical with these mystery noises, it affected people’s daily lives and nightly sleep. Neighbors organized on the social app NextDoor to seek out the cause and have it rectified. After many false leads, the culprit turned out to be a pigeon repellent device that had been left on for two weeks when a resident of an apartment left on vacation. The device was on a balcony and emitted very high frequency and ultra-high-frequency chirps. The tall buildings added to the difficulty in locating the sound. https://brooklyneagle.com/articles/2021/12/06/search-for-mysterious-noise-in-brooklyn-heights-turns-into-massive-crowdsourced-investigation/
Sand spikes point towards strong earthquakes
Odd “sand spikes” were found in the 1820s near an impact crater in southern Germany. Scientists could not explain how they formed. A recent study in a scientific journal, Nature Communications, proposes that the objects are a result of seismic events. Using samples from Mount Signal, California, researchers discovered they were just sedimentary concretions of sand and natural carbonate cement. They were seemingly the result of the action of seismic waves that “dewatered” the sand layer in such a way as to create a “tail” that was oriented towards the direction of the incoming waves. Then they were cemented by the rapid precipitation of the calcite and eventually hardened. The researcher noted that these sand spikes are very rare because they require a special combination of environmental conditions with a strong seismic event to form. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/science/sand-spikes-earthquakes.html
Read the whole journal article here: http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27061-6.pdf
Historic globe shows world depicted before Australia “existed”
A marvelous 16th-century globe was brought to one of those “Antique Roadshow” type events in Staffordshire, England. To the surprise of its anonymous owner, it was determined to be 460 years old. The object was created before Europeans set foot in Australia, so it doesn’t appear. Instead, amazing artistic flourishes featuring sea monsters and gods adorn its surface. The item will be auctioned later this month and is expected to fetch over 30,000 pounds. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-59592917
Gator left in the cold
A small alligator was found in the Lehigh River near Allentown, PA. The animal was rescued by a reptile sanctuary. Temperatures in PA have been in the 30s on and off for several weeks. Without warmth and adequate food, the animal would have soon died. PA has a serious problem with abandoned alligators; every year there are multiple incidents in the news. It is not illegal to own them in the state and awful people readily set them free when they get too large. So, finding an errant alligator in PA is, weirdly, not really that weird. https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/captured-on-camera-3-foot-alligator-found-in-lehigh-river/article_f806ff10-56de-11ec-ba32-f77824fc4a54.html
Cobra Can
A curious spectacled cobra got stuck inside a beer can in India. Some brave dudes from a snake volunteer helpline (yes, there is such a thing) carefully used shears to cut open the can and free the venomous animal. It was sprayed with antibiotics and released into the brush. Respect all creatures. They don’t deserve to die from our trash. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/mamita-meher-murder-case-bjym-holds-massive-protest-outside-odisha-assembly/videoshow/88193748.cms
Otter attack in Singapore
Back in October, this newsletter included information about ongoing otter attacks in Alaska. Well, I’m wondering if the otters have the internet because a copycat attack took place in Singapore. A man was bitten repeatedly when a group of otters attacked him in a waterside park. He said he thought he was “going to die”. His friend scared the swarm away. The park is home to many otter families. What’s more likely is that people are getting nearer to otters and they feel threatened so they attack. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/10/i-thought-i-was-going-to-die-otters-attack-british-man-in-singapore-park
Come for the forgiveness, stay for the blaspheming
In a sensationalistic story mostly circulating in tabloids, a 28 yr old woman in Vicenza, Italy was brought by her family to a church where she later underwent a prolonged exorcism. From this article, she was suffering from psychiatric issues. Her behavior included running around screaming and attacking others. Nothing in this shows any indication her affliction was supernatural in origin but the circulation of these stories prompts more people to believe in possession and thus they manifest symptoms that are more readily labeled as possession. Typically, the Catholic church will seek medical help for such people. https://www.latintimes.com/28-year-old-woman-undergoes-9-hour-exorcism-rid-her-devil-after-attacking-priest-498013
Alien laser battle under Steamboat Lake
Finally, Colorado Parks and Wildlife posted to social media a neat video highlighting sound captured from an icy Steamboat Lake state park. UFO promoter Scott Waring, who runs the ridiculous collection of garbage known as UFO Sightings Daily, decided the sound of water being squeezed by the ice was the sound of an alien base under the water. “Pew-Pew!” You know, I’d almost think he was kidding but it’s more likely that he’s just not well-tethered to reality. Never underestimate the power of people to believe weird things. Apologies for linking to the NY Post but it was the least-worst option. https://nypost.com/2021/12/07/mysterious-sounds-heard-underneath-frozen-lake-in-colorado-spark-alien-conspiracy-theories/
