Weekly Weird News for 15 September 2023
Fake information shakes down social media
Hello everyone! Lots of big news this week.But let’s start with two quick updates because I know you all were worried about the loose emu and the New Jersey gator. Both have been found.
Mass. emu captured
The emu reported loose in Massachusetts (from WWN 8 September) was captured and will be relocated to some swanky new home with an emu-loving human. https://www.abc6.com/elusive-lakeville-emu-finally-captured/
NJ alligator captured
An alligator that prompted the closing of a New Jersey park was captured in Piscataway Township and relocated to the Cape May (NJ) zoo. It is still unknown how the 4 ft animal got loose and into the creek. https://abc7ny.com/alligator-captured-in-road-piscataway-ambrose-creek/13753035/
Pennsylvania alligator problem
In a twist to the Kiski alligator problem in Southwestern Pennsylvania noted in last WWN, I included mention of a proposed township ordinance to prohibit ownership of the reptiles that are all too frequently seen in the Kiski river. The latest escapees seem to have not been caught but the hubbub about an ordinance was “leaked” and the resulting draft language included mention of dangerous dogs and restrictions on farm animals. This enraged the residents so much that they bulldozed the entire idea at a township meeting. Now, the township will try another way to limit alligator ownership.
Chinese crocs escape
Seventy five Siamese crocodiles at a breeding farm in southern China made a break for it during flooding from Typhoon Haikui. Only 8 were caught. Some were killed because they posed a threat. The animals were being raised for skin and meat. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66784618
Let the wine flow
Flooding of a very different kind occurred when wine tanks burst at a distillery in Anadia, Portugal causing hundreds of thousands of gallons of red wine to flow down the street. The 581,000 gallons was contained before it reached the river. Wine would be an environmental pollutant that would cause serious disruption. Regardless, the event flooded one basement and may have contaminated farmland and water supplies. Wine consumption is down worldwide which meant that the tanks were storing the large volume when they burst. https://euroweeklynews.com/2023/09/11/river-red-wine-flows-portugal-levira-distillery-tanks-burst/por and https://www.npr.org/2023/09/12/1198913626/red-wine-flood-city-portugal
Patterned land is an ominous sign
Scientists have discovered that the Canadian High Arctic is experiencing formation of “polygon fields” where the ground shows patterns caused by thawing of permafrost. The study was in 2019 and indicated the ground thaw was related to climate change. The melting of permafrost not only releases methane, a greenhouse gas, but causes increased erosion of the land. This is an ominous find. https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9wy5/climate-change-is-creating-strange-polygon-fields-in-the-arctic-and-scientists-are-worried
Unidentified battery found in Yukon
A hiker in a remote area in the Yukon found a mysterious object that looked like an old car battery on top of a mountain. There were no ground markings and no way vehicles could get there. The discoverer began to wonder if it was part of whatever “balloon” was shot down last year. When he posted photos online, it turned out it wasn’t a mysterious or alien device but it was, indeed, a battery. It could have been a very old one. But the mystery of where it came from remains. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mysterious-object-tombstone-park-yukon-1.6963547
Just another day on the farm
A very compliant cow who fell head first into a sinkhole in the UK was calmly hoisted out of the hole by its back legs by an equally calm group of helpers. Upon extraction, it laid still while the straps were removed before it rolled upright and was reunited with its herd seemingly none the worse for wear. I tried to embed the video but Substack isn’t cooperating. Click on the link to see it. It’s interesting https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/09/13/england-steer-hoisted-sinkhole-Witton-Castle-Country-Park/8101694620066/
“Alien bodies” presented to Mexican lawmakers
On September 12, a public hearing on UFOs took place in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. Known fraudster Jaime Maussan was there to present two small specimens of “mummified alien” bodies. The specimens were supposedly collected in Peru in 2017. In the following days, considering the UFO mania gripping the US now, our news media covered this outrageous story. The beings have three fingers and look like the movie version of “E.T.”
Under oath, Maussan insisted these speciems had unknown DNA and were “not human” based on various analyses. Maussan makes his living pushing wild UFO ideas. He similarly hyped these bodies to the Peruvian government. Such “preserved” objects are not new. I previously covered “alien mummies” on my previous Doubtful News project since the 2010s. These objects were previously commented upon by scientists who said they were constructed amalgamations of different bones, human and possibly animals. It is also likely there is a system in place that produces these objects from bones found in the dry climate and stolen mummified remains to forward certain agendas.
The Mexican hearing was to discuss language in a proposed Aerial Space Protection Law. If approved, Mexico would declare the existence of alien life. They would be insane if they were to do that but considering recent history, that’s not far-fetched. Many people believe these claims based on the embarrassingly ridiculous “evidence” that has been debunked already. However, even some UAP proponents reject everything Maussan says and called this a “stunt". It is very similar to the claims of the Bigfooter claims in the 2000s about bodies and DNA but on a bigger stage. Nothing came of that. Nothing has come of alien claims for 75 years. Nothing scientifically legitimate will ultimately come from this. However, there seems little interest in listening to legitimate scientists when we are in a time of heavy hype and where manufactured fakeries abound. For an in-depth discussion of the many problems with Maussan and his claims, head to Metabunk. https://www.metabunk.org/threads/alien-bodies-at-a-mexican-uap-hearing.13163/
https://www.404media.co/mexican-congress-alien-mummies-explained/
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/13/1199251336/mexico-alien-corpses-congress
Morocco claims of earthquake lights
A devastating earthquake hit Morocco last Friday, the largest in recorded history here at M6.8. The area is not exactly on a plate boundary but the Atlas Mountains are the result of the convergence of two plates. The mountains are actively rising. The seismic stress had likely been building for a long time and manifested in the quake.
Soon after the quake came the videos on social media that claimed to show earthquake lights (EGL). One video in particular showed two flashes of white-blue light on the horizon. As with most other quakes in populated areas, people caught the flashes on video and called them “earthquake lights”. Long time readers of my stuff will know that EQLs are a favorite topic of mine. I’ve been skeptical of almost every EQL video that has made the rounds because they appear to have the simpler explanation of electrical wiring and transformers busting from the shaking and creating the bright white-blue light. The flashes are most often followed immediately by a power outage. The Morocco claim of EQLs got a LOT of traction across the world. All major news media, even the New York Times, posted stories where they talked to seimologists, but maybe not in context. It seemed that the speakers weren’t quoted about these particular lights, they gave no specifics. And, considering the history of this topic, I would be shocked if they suspected these flashes were EQL being that no EQLs have ever been confirmed on video. Once again, these look like human infrastructure related flashes. But hardly any of the news reports mentioned that explanation. If they did, it was buried in one short paragraph near the end after the “mystery” was hyped. Not cool. But, hey, news is crap these days and there are so few science reporters. Subscribers to my newsletter already received the post explaining this event in detail. https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/sky-in-morocco-lit-up-by-mysterious-lights-before-earthquake-the-science-explained-13122492.html and https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-lights-flashed-in-the-sky-before-moroccos-devastating-earthquake
Earthquake lights always appear
After every sizable earthquake these days, it is inevitable that several people on social media will post a photo or video of what they claim are anomalous luminous phenomena associated with the quake. It is usually security footage that shows bright blue flashes in the distance, never close up. And it’s typically seconds before or during when the shaki…
Fake info on Morocco quake
Social media content also showed many fake images and videos of EQLs that were said to be taken related to the Morocco quake. I love this segment by an English-French newscast that addresses some of them. https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/20230911-viral-images-falsely-attributed-to-morocco-quake
Many were misattributed to previous events that had nothing to do with the quake and several, include mysterious lights in the sky videos were created by CGI artists. People are not being careful in considering the veracity of these videos but gasp and share - a dangerous habit that spreads hard-to-dismiss misinformation far and wide.
TikTok, that very efficient misinformation generator/spreader, was at the forefront distributing a CGI video (from 2020) showing something in the sky that generated a “laser beam” that people said caused the earthquake. The clearly manufactured video does not even depict a city in Morocco. The video was referenced as depicting an alien invasion or attributed to the HAARP research project. HAARP has been perpetually misunderstood and used as a “cause” of all kinds of disasters. None of it has any basis in fact and reveals not only the sense of distrust society has with science and government projects, but a general sense of how little the public understands nature. It’s jaw-dropping that people can’t recognize such obvious fakery. https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-morocco-earthquake-lightning-video-618499287078
https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-morocco-earthquake-not-caused-by-laser-weapon/a-66799897
Fake warning for Whatapp hack
In another twist, a warning is circulating on WhatsApp warning that a file called “Seismic Waves Card” attached to a message can hack your phone. People thinking the file contains info on the Morocco quake will open the file and be compromised. This isn’t true and this claim may not even have any factual basis at all. https://www.thequint.com/news/webqoof/whatsapp-message-about-seismic-waves-file-morocco-earthquake-photos-does-not-hack-devices-fact-check
Organized effort of disinformation
Every natural disaster these days is accompanied by not only fake visual content but by typical conspiracy-related claims. Some of these claims seem to be an organized effort to spread disinformation. Researchers discovered 85 social media accounts and blogs in China that are actively spreading ideas the Maui fires was caused by a U.S. “weather weapon”. The claim is intended to demonize the US government and science. Guess what? It’s working. https://gizmodo.com/weather-weapon-maui-fires-china-disinformation-1850826548
Mistake that will come out alright in the end
Wow. This has been some heavy, depressing stuff. So I want to end on a lighter note. A distracted woman accidentally swallowed one of her AirPods ear buds thinking it was vitamins. She quickly realized her mistake and admitted it on a video. She was told to wait until it exits naturally. The best quote: "When you get it back, it will be an ipood.” https://www.indy100.com/tiktok/woman-swallows-airpod-accident
Awww, I was hoping for an Emu and Gator team-up!