Weekly Weird News for 18 March 2022
It was a rough week. I had planned to announce a new section to my website but chaos hit instead. After posting the new section about popular cryptids, my site started to act wonky. Long, strange, complex story short, the site crashed and I lost the last post. While waiting for the site to be restored, I thought about putting that unique content about pop culture cryptids someplace else. So, I’m going to try Tumblr. But I haven’t had time to work much on that or produce more content. Websites are a bit of a pain to maintain. And on top of that, getting people to notice what I write is even more of an uphill battle. I’d really appreciate if you like my stuff, please share it on social media or LINK to other websites if you can. Without sponsors and promotion, hobbyist indy writers like me who don’t exaggerate or aren’t dramatic for clicks, struggle to be heard. Thanks, now on to the week’s legit weirdness.
Killer camel
Around Christmas of last year, I included a story in WWN for 24 December 2021 about a camel that had escaped a “living Nativity” scene. No harm was done in that instance. But news this week of an escaped camel did not have a good ending. After escaping a “petting” zoo in Memphis, TN, a loose camel attacked and killed two men. There is VERY little information on this story from local news sources, I looked. I’ve linked to the LiveScience article below that had the most investigating. The police reported that they were called to the zoo where the two men were already down. The rest of the info is very fuzzy. The men were identified but it was not said if they were visitors or employees of the facility. The camel then attacked the officials trying to administer help and it was subsequently shot. Some people said the camel was male, others female, and that it had not previously been aggressive. Other sources say the zoo had a history of poor care for the animals and there were not adequate barriers between the public and the animals. It is not clear how the people died. Camels will bite, shake, throw, kick, crush, and trample. They aren’t friendly and cordial like horses, for example. Once again, animals suffer for our stupid whims. It does sound like this may be a legal issue which is why no details were released. https://www.livescience.com/escaped-camel-kills-two-men
Diamond Ranch
Here are two things that I would never have connected - Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix and diamonds. Yet, here goes! Diamonds can be made in a lab by using extreme pressure. As a publicity event, the Hidden Valley Ranch company contracted the production of a 2-carat diamond that included using their trademark seasoning mix in the formula. It took five months to make and is being auctioned off for a charity that fights hunger. It’s pretty. But it’s weird. I guess if you really love ranch on everything, you’ll love it on your jewelry too. https://www.pennlive.com/life/2022/03/this-2-carat-diamond-was-made-with-hidden-valley-ranch-and-you-can-bid-to-buy-it.html
Conservatory Conspiracy
A butterfly conservancy center located near the Texas-Mexico border was the target of a conspiracy frenzy during the Trump administration. There were some violent incidents that took place near the facility and they were forced to close due to security concerns from gun-wielding intruders uninterested in butterflies but in a false claim that the facility was a front for smuggling and sex trafficking. The center reopened for members only this week. Conspiracy mongering associated with a currently deeply dysfunctional society is why we can’t have nice things, like butterfly sanctuaries. https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/National-Butterfly-Center-conspiracy-border-wall-17006165.php
Mystery booms in remote areas of Washington islands point to homemade bombs
The San Juan Islands of the coast of Washington, near Canada, have been the location of periodic strange booms since 2019. The dates reported by the San Juan Islander news site note events in November and December 2019, March, May and October of 2021, and the most recent was March 7, 2022. The seismically active area is flush with seismographs. Seismologist Steve Malone looked at 10 readings in the area after the latest boom. The energy event was on the surface, not a result of seismic waves. He was able to mathematically determine the location of the boom was near Crescent Beach Preserve just east of Eastsound. The sound was carried 23 miles due to conducive atmospheric conditions - a stable atmosphere and no wind or temperature gradients. The data ruled out an aerial explosion such as a meteor. It didn’t appear to be a mining-related blast or military exercises. It appears that the source is another illegal explosion. Last year at this time, a homemade pipe bomb was discovered detonated at False Bay. Law enforcement is investigating this disturbing trend. https://sanjuanislander.com/news-articles/environment-science-whales/environment/34139/mystery-booms-on-orcas-island-and-forensic-seismology
More about mystery booms at Spooky geology: Mystery Booms and Skyquakes
Subsiding seafloor
Marine scientists have discovered giant subsided areas of the seafloor in the Arctic. Underwater ROVs captured these features that appear to be resulting from melting permafrost as the oceans continue to warm. The surveys took place between 2010 and 2019. Ground collapse due to permafrost thawing was already known. Craters and sinkholes that form due to ground collapse can release huge amounts of methane that was held by the permafrost, exacerbating global greenhouse gases. Now, scientists know it’s not just happening on the land. The depressions are not likely to have been caused by methane explosions, however, but resulted from the gradual circulation of water into the porous seafloor. The research was released this past week noting that the processes could have been going for thousands of years. A cycle of increased warming may accelerate the subsidence and these dramatic features could affect future uses of the Arctic ocean. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/14/world/arctic-seafloor-holes-permafrost-scn/index.html
Beijing circle of light in sky
Sometimes, I wonder if monkeys write the news. Mystery mongering sites loved this story but this is what we get from Yahoo news:
Locals baffled… a mystery ring of light glowed in the skies over Beijing, China. The strange phenomenon was seen hovering above the city for 20 minutes on the evening of March 11.
The ring of light in the sky was certainly startling to residents who posted to social media but the answer was forthcoming and not that difficult to figure out. It was a light show from a rehearsal of the closing ceremony for the Paralympic Winter Games at the National Stadium.
News bungled report of Japan earthquake lights
The Guardian reported on the 7.3 earthquake in Japan this week with a video (via Reuters, I think) of what they called “earthquake light”. The blue flashes and reflections on the clouds in the distance often occur during large earthquakes and are, at least some of the time, a result of electrical system explosions, not related to anomalous lights. It doesn’t seem like this reporting got too much traction, but it may catch on and spread. It could be that the idea of flashes related to earthquakes are now all called EQLs in the eyes of the media and the public when real EQL phenomenon, as a result of the seismic activity and energy discharge, is still questionable. The same overzealous reporting by the press and public happened in Mexico last year. https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/mar/16/earthquake-light-sky-japan-city-sendai-video
For more on EQLs see Spooky geology: Earthquake Lights
Blue milk
TikTok misinformers strike again. I’ve looked into past TikTok claims about human trafficking and abduction, but this one is a bit weirder. A mom posted that her breast milk was a light blue color. She claimed that the color was due to antibodies produced by her body to help her son who was sick. Almost…there. Breastmilk does have important antibodies but these aren’t produced in response to a baby’s illness and aren’t reflected by a color tint. The color is more likely due to the fat content, how the milk has been stored, or what the mother consumed. https://nypost.com/2022/03/15/i-was-stunned-to-learn-why-my-breast-milk-turned-blue/
Big cat search in South Carolina
The Calhoun County Sheriff’s office in South Carolina responded to a report of a large cat roaming in a wooded residential area of Swansea. Multiple people had called, and some reported it was a “tiger”. This is not as weird as it seems since these things do happen - remember the Texas tiger in May 2021? You also cannot take such eyewitness reports at face value, because people mess up A LOT regarding animal types and estimated size. The search, which included aerials, was later called off when no additional evidence was found except for one indeterminant pawprint. As additional days went by without sightings, people began to speculate that the reports might be a long-ranging Eastern cougar from Florida, a native bobcat, or a brindle dog. Other people remain adamant that they know what they saw, but when those sightings can’t be independently confirmed, they aren’t useful. https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article259422169.html
Mouse born from parthenogenesis
Researchers published last week that they have successfully raised a mouse into adulthood that was produced from a single unfertilized egg. The gene-editing tool CRISPR was used to manipulate the genetic code making it seem as though the mother’s genetic code came from a male. Then, they were able to switch certain genes on or off to mimic an egg that was fertilized by a male. While parthenogenesis - which doesn’t require a contribution from a male, occurs naturally in some sharks, lizards, and birds, it doesn’t occur in mammals but now, with some work, it can. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mice-birthed-from-unfertilized-eggs-180979720/
And, that’s all I got. See ya next week if the world keeps turning.
I loves me the camels, but as I've seen or heard, they can be quite unruly and one approaches any camel with great care. That said, when i lived in Saudi, I was able to hang out (and hug) some very tame and well-managed camels. However, on a visit to the Phoenix zoo last night (it was "Roar & Pour Night") I wondered about a particular zebra that kept its backside to us the whole time. One of the Park Rangers said it's probably just as well because this particular breed would "eat humans" if given the right circumstances. Although it seemed to be grazing on grass in its zoo space, apparently the breed is omnivorous and has been known to attack giraffes...though I haven't fact-checked this...just listened to the ranger.