Weekly Weird News for 10 February 2023
Headlines give me a headache
It’s been a wild week. I apologize in advance for this edition being quite dark. Lots of scary news.
First off, the Turkey-Syria earthquake was historically terrible. Soon after the event, social media was rife with misinformation, fake news stories, misattributed photos and videos, and insane claims about the “cause” of the earthquake. The earthquake was caused by release of stresses built up in the dynamic crust of the earth. It wasn’t a mystery, it wasn’t surprising, it wasn’t man-made, and it wasn’t predicted. Yet, the news media, who are mostly ignoramuses when it comes to scientific explanations, promoted the drama and exaggerated false correlations.
Quake prediction was exaggerated to the point of falseness
The top story that came out immediately was that a Dutch “expert” had predicted the event via Twitter only a few days before. This was no prediction and actual seismologists were quick to respond to the claims. A self-styled earthquake “mystic” Frank Hoogerbeets uses planetary alignment schemes to warn that earthquakes are more likely during certain times. This idea, tested many times, has never panned out even though it sounds plausible on the surface. There are a LOT of people who make their living making unfounded disaster proclamations, often using sciencey-sounding methods. Because they declare that earthquake-prone places will have earthquakes, eventually they guess close enough to tout their success.
If you look at Hoogerbeet’s “prediction”, it’s entirely vague on timing. The image in the tweet (viewed over 50 million times) shows the location of a small quake on the very active East Anatolian Fault. Where there are earthquakes in the past, there will be quakes in the future. Hoogerbeets insists he has developed a valid method of prediction. But he has never scientifically tested it. And, no one has ever developed a system that gives people precise warnings for earthquakes. Let me repeat that: NO ONE has, because it’s likely impossible. But people so desperately want predictions to be real that they reject the scientists down-to-earth explanations that predictions are bogus. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/1154893886/earthquake-prediction-turkey-usgs
Earthquake anomalies
I’m obsessively interested in earthquake precursors and associated anomalies even though evidence for their actual occurrence is very poor. So I began following up on the bigger claims made about the quake. It was tough to scroll through all the platforms featuring videos supposedly of the timely events. Twitter was particularly ghoulish, loaded with images of dead people.
I wrote up commentary on the major claims - earthquake lights, animal behavior, conspiracies, correlation to other events, etc. - on my Spooky Geology page. Even the weird lenticular cloud story from this newsletter made another appearance! Please head on over there and have a look. If you think it’s worthwhile, please share. It is incredible difficult to get rational content noticed in a giant ocean of trash. Individuals helping to spread the content is the main way I can get attention to this perspective. https://spookygeology.com/anomalous-claims-from-turkey-syria-earthquake-2023/
Now on to other news.
Zoos are having a bad year
Two weeks in a row I’ve had to remark about the incidents at the Dallas Zoo. Right after I posted the WWN last week, news broke that the suspect had been arrested for stealing animals and vandalizing the zoo. Davion Irvin has since admitted he did these things. And, because he “loves animals”, he will continue to steal them. https://apnews.com/article/oddities-law-enforcement-monkeys-animal-cruelty-dallas-5d7949d2609dd6e0ab150417933a406c
Animal advocates are pointing the finger at social influencers who are normalizing and promoting the idea of keeping exotic animals. People who lack better judgement will go as far as to steal the animals even though they have no means to keep them. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/06/us/dallas-zoo-animal-theft-incidents/index.html
The thefts have zoo keepers across the country worried that others will try the same tactics elsewhere. It already is happening. Earlier this week, a fence at the Houston zoo was found to be cut. No animals escaped or were harmed. https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/02/07/we-will-not-tolerate-theft-or-endangerment-of-our-animals-keepers-find-fence-cut-at-houston-zoo/
A man was arrested this week for the theft of 12 squirrel monkeys in Louisiana. But the animals were not found. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/us/zoosiana-squirrel-monkeys-arrest/index.html
Superb Owl week
A Eurasian eagle owl escaped into the wilds of Manhattan after the Central Park Zoo exhibit was vandalized and the steel mesh cut on its enclosure. The animal had been tracked as zoo staff tried to corral it. But it has eluded capture. It’s now settled into Central Park's Hallett Sanctuary where it seems temporarily safe while staff still tries to get it back to its enclosure.ow https://abcnews.go.com/US/central-park-zoo-owl-loose-after-exhibit-vandalized/story?id=96879660
In honor of the beautiful bird, named Flaco, don’t forget that it’s Superb Owl week! https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/superb-owl
Pink pigeon dies
In another sad update from last week, Flamingo, the pigeon dyed pink and found in NYC has died from inhaling and ingesting the chemicals from the hair dye. https://gothamist.com/news/flamingo-nycs-mysterious-pink-pigeon-has-died
Massive acorn stash
A pest controller hit the acorn jackpot in a customer’s California home. Some 700 pounds of acorns were stashed in the wall, probably by a woodpecker. The stockpile took up chimney space and was probably 2-5 years old. The acorns had attracted other pests like mealworms and rats. The exterminator had never seen such a huge supply. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/07/acorns-woodpeckers-california-house/
Hybrid catfish headlines
Headlines are usually pretty good at catching your attention and misrepresenting the story. This past week, several headlines touted that scientists had created a catfish-alligator hybrid leading some people to imagine a scary mutant. But the truth is mundane. As with many species, the catfish were genetically modified to add a bit of different DNA as an advantage for humans. The “edited” catfish now has greater resistance to infection through the ability to produce a protein found in alligators. According to the experiments, additional modification to prevent these modified catfish from reproducing prevents the animals from affecting wild populations. But ethical questions have always plagued genetic modification. Note that the modification does not change anything about the catfish except its ability to produce a new protein against infection. https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/alligator-catfish-hybrid-alabama/?amp
So, killing your look-alike is a real thing?
Whoa, another doppelgänger murder plot! I thought last week’s murder of a look alike was a weird story. This week, I find out there was another one prior to this. It also involved a woman who tried to kill a beautician who looked like her. This time, she didn’t succeed. The victim, a Russian woman in NYC, became ill and collapsed from a piece of cheesecake laced with sedatives in 2016. Viktoria Nasyrova was found guilty of trying to kill Olga Tsvyk and steal her passport, cash and other property while making the death look like a suicide. Nasyrova had been in trouble for poisoning other acquaintances and even another murder in Russia. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64595317
Shocking death reveals serious problem in city
The sudden and very unexpected death of a dog while the owner was walking it revealed a neighborhood danger in Milwaukee. The metal on the dog’s leash came into contact with a street light pole when the dog was shocked and died. Several light poles in the area have electrical shorts that cause the metal to heat up or emit electrical jolts. The aging system means that the wiring can be faulty after decades of decay and wear. It’s not obvious until you touch it. The lighting system is scheduled for an upgrade. https://www.wisn.com/article/hidden-neighborhood-danger-street-lights-shocking-dogs-killing-one-milwaukee/42781169
Leopard attacks lawyers
In India, a leopard walked into a court room and attacked people inside. The article claims it attacked the lawyers but that seems a bit too convenient. At least six people sustained injuries and were bleeding. The animal was tranquilized 4 hours later. There was no mention of how the animal got inside but the area near New Delhi has a large population of the predators. Human encounters with wild animals are on the increase. https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/08/india-leopard-breaks-into-court-and-attacks-six-people-in-rampage-18247367/ and https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2023/02/08/indian-court-under-siege-after-leopard-attack/
Chinese UAP over USA
Finally, last week saw the demise of the Chinese spy balloon that had garnered the interest of spectators across the US and even into Canada. It was shot down off the South Carolina coast. News this week reveals that such devices have visited before. During the Trump administration, two were noted. Obviously, they weren’t shot down. They seem to have been treated like UFOs or UAP - unidentified aerial phenomena. Trump now denies this. But who can believe that guy?! https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-spy-balloons-seen-during-trump-administration-classified-as-ufos-2023-2
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