Weekly Weird News for 15 July 2022

Happy mid-July to all. There is a tasty array of tidbits in today’s WWN. If you want more (that maybe didn’t make the cut for this edition), please check my Twitter feed. You don’t need an account to view it.

It’s interesting (and extremely depressing) that part of the normal news feed these days is debunking rampant fake news. This trend ratcheted up like mad in the Trump era. We are still living in that era and there seems no resolution to the extreme gullibility of the public to not only believe wildly false stories that resonate with their worldview, but totally obvious BS as well. A not-small faction of people seem to be missing any semblance of critical thought and now they find an audience on social media. Read on for some examples later on in this post.

This week’s fish rain - not what they say it is

If you are a regular reader of WWN, you’ll know that I’m fascinated by “fish rains” where fish seem to fall from the sky. See the last several editions of WWN for my work on discovering that the cause of fish falls is often birds. This week, a claim was made that fish fell from the sky in Jagtial, India earlier this month. However, details always matter in these events (that’s why the Texarkana event was so important). The situation in India is clearly not a fish fall. Instead, we see a species of fish that may be a “walking” or “climbing” perch that can move across land, likely in response to sudden flooding from the coinciding rains. They end up on the streets where people are surprised to find them. The news report for this event says that people “woke up to a surprise” with no evidence they saw the fish fall. Also, the video shows the fish making their way across the ground in a crude but useful way. Most significantly, the 6-inch fish are all perfectly alive. They did not fall or they would not be moving at all. This is not a fish rain regardless of the headlines. https://news.abplive.com/telangana/telangana-jagtial-witness-rain-of-animals-phenomenon-amid-heavy-rainfall-watch-1541760

Milky Seas phenomenon

A fascinating phenomenon called “milky seas” is in the news this week. Sailors have reported that on rare occasions the night sea turns white even though the waves are black, and the depths emit a disorienting glow, like snow. Media headlines reported this week that it’s the first time this glow is “caught on camera”. But that’s not quite true. Satellites captured the glow in areas in the Indian Ocean back in 2005. And, one scientist reported on the events in 2019 documented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, no less. This time, photographic evidence was obtained on a boat within the area at the same time the satellites recorded it. So this is the first time that real-world evidence of milky seas was correlated with satellite imagery. The observation confirmed the effect starts 10 m below the surface and is caused by luminescent bacteria creating a foggy glow. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/11/milky-seas-mysterious-glow-caught-on-camera 

The silhouette of the boat is seen against the glowing water.

Cthulhu bunny

An unfortunate rabbit was the subject of local news in Sioux Falls, SD this week. The cottontail suffered from an extreme manifestation of papilloma virus that causes fleshy growths on its face, neck and legs. The facial growths look like short tentacles leading people to share the story with the hashtag “Cthulhu”. Once again, the headline is dumb, saying it’s “very unusual”. But the warty conditions is not that unusual. It’s well known that rabbits even occasionally look this bad. The rabbit was seen and filmed by several people. Wildlife officials say it poses no threat to other pets as long as they steer clear of the wild animal which seems in otherwise OK shape. There was no mention of culling the animal since its no danger nor in any distress. It’s thought that these growths might have given rise to rumors of jackalopes, historic mythical animals of the southwest. https://wgno.com/news/nmw/very-unusual-rabbit-with-tentacle-like-growths-found-in-south-dakota/

Now, some updates and additions from last week’s WWN.

Bigfoot stunt bait-and-switch

First, as we knew, the Bigfoot skull supposedly found by YouTube self-promoter Coyote Peterson was a bait and switch. I didn’t click on his video because I feel obligated to avoid contributing to his cash flow for a misinformation stunt, but it turned out to be a “What if…” type scenario about finding Bigfoot remains. It was surprising how much attention the story got with almost all well-known ‘footers weighing in with their opinions. General enthusiasts were certainly elated at the prospect. But this was downplayed by some who thought it was so obvious and that it was silly that anyone, especially skeptics, took it seriously. The joke might be on them, though, because some less reputable places are still reporting on it as if it’s real. It gets clicks! Eventually, it may inculcate itself into the folklore that someone once found a Bigfoot skull and the government tried to confiscate it. In no uncertain terms, it was a stupid stunt all around. https://www.livescience.com/coyote-peterson-primate-skull-fiasco

Guidestones blow-up

At the end of last week, the Georgia Guidestones were destroyed. The person who did it remains at large. Those who counted on the rumor that there was a time capsule buried under the stones were disappointed to find that no such cache existed. That didn’t stop a good story though - a meme was generated suggesting that decades-old pop culture items were found. That’s false. Authorities dug around to make sure. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/time-capsule-beneath-georgia-guidestones-bust-after-bombing-forces-demolition

Misinformation about the Guidestones has been circulating including claims that they will be rebuilt. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/07/14/fact-check-post-shows-fabricated-story-georgia-guidestones/10038321002/

You can bet that the manufactured mystery of the stones will continue. People will doubt the official accounts. Here is another story of someone who doubted a conclusion on a mysterious case and sought to check it out for himself.

When doing your own “research” ends up as “search and rescue”

An older man from Michigan thought the death of a family and their dog last year on a trail in Mariposa, CA seemed “odd” so he came there to check it out for himself. If you recall, a couple, their 1 yr old daughter, and their dog were found dead in a Fresno County park. All sorts of ideas were proposed to explain their deaths but it turns out they were ill-prepared for the hot and dry conditions and died of heat exhaustion. This guy almost met the same fate as he had to be rescued after he failed to return to his car. The sheriff was pretty pissed at him. https://abc13.com/missing-hiker-rescue-hiking-trail-deaths-jonathan-gerrish/12032839/

Mediterranean Sea of America

As if we need yet another example of how bereft the general public is at critical thinking about the news, a very unbelievable joke map was circulating on social media showing a flooded interior of the US alleging that the US will look like this in 30 years thanks to climate change. Many people fell for it as a real projection. The image was simply the Mediterranean Sea imposed on the US. A little background knowledge of geography and earth history would clue people in that the map was faked. The sea showed upland and moutainous areas underwater and low areas that will certainly suffer from sea level rise untouched. The image can be traced back to a Tumblr post from 2015 where someone was playing with Google Earth and photo editing. https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-map-climate-change-Mediterranean-sea-129553418056

Lightning strikes herd

It’s unfortunately not uncommon for herd animals to be killed en masse via a lightning strike. The animals stand close together and the shock is transmitted to all of them. A farm owner in Saskatchewan lost 28 cattle this way last week. The black Angus cows and calves were along a fence that was hit. Their community is helping them out. https://regina.ctvnews.ca/worst-thing-i-ve-ever-seen-on-the-farm-sask-family-loses-nearly-30-cattle-to-lightning-strike-1.5983000

Woodpecker reprieve

Last year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service created a stir about officially declaring the Ivory-billed woodpecker extinct. They received many claims that the bird still lives on in small areas in the south. See April 2022 WWN. The agency was due to make the decision recently but has extended the examination period and is asking for any additional information from the public. So far, all the publicly available evidence is very weak, as I noted in this newsletter back on October 1. It’s unclear how the feds will rule or if any of the evidence is convincing. https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2022-07/service-announces-6-month-extension-final-decision-ivory-billed-woodpecker

Michigan alligator

Reported sightings of a 4-5 foot long alligator is creating a small panic in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. The sightings have closed a local nature center out of caution that the claims may be true. But the sightings have not been confirmed with evidence that an actual alligator may be at large. No spoor has been discovered. No recorded evidence was submitted. (If you know of some, please add in comments!) It’s not unlikely that a pet alligator could have been released here. But these animals are typically small, under 3 feet, like this one found in Wisconsin this week https://www.wisn.com/article/kids-find-alligator-roaming-kenosha-neighborhood/40593939# But an animal the size of a person would be much rarer and rather obvious. So, odds are, this is a mistaken rumor. https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/07/alligator-hunt-continues-in-kalamazoo-river-near-michigan-college.html

That’s it for this week. Send me good stories if you find them! And, if you like my stuff, please share on social media or tell a friend. Also, tell a reporter, or podcaster, I’m happy to give interviews! linktr.ee/SharonAHIll