Weekly Weird News for 21 April 2023

Watch the skies. Again.

Hey, wonderful readers, thanks for joining me for another rundown of weird news for the week. It’s been a busy one! This week there were several stories about sky phenomena. What have the sky watchers found now? 

Sky spiral, again

Oh dear, the sky spiral. Again. When I saw this story last week, I passed it. Because it’s not actually that weird. But it was all the rage this week where seemingly every major media channel covered it. Often, I forget that not everyone keeps tabs on weird things in the sky but it’s hard to believe they may have missed the previous instances of this same “sky spiral” observation which also made the news and the well-publicized causes for it. No matter, people still said it was a wormhole or some such nonsense. The spiral appeared in the Alaskan sky in the wee hours of Saturday morning. With a backdrop of auroral lights, a galaxy-shaped object appeared. It freaked people out a bit. But a moment of web searching would have made it clear this was the traces of a rocket releasing spent fuel, which turns to ice in the atmosphere. The rocket could be pinpointed as the Falcon 9 vehicle launched by SpaceX three hours prior from California. One professor in Alaska said he’s seen it three times before. Sometimes it’s not so swirly. Back in January, it made this newsletter when the spiral appeared in Hawaii. And in Norway in 2009, a really amazing spiral was photographed (that wasn’t a Space X launch but a failed missile test that also vented fuel). These events get reported and then spread because of the impressive visuals and the extreme causes proposed by online commenters or witnesses. I suppose the widespread publicity for this event might have reached even farther and, hopefully, the next time it happens, it won’t be a big deal. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/04/19/spacex-launch-spiral-northern-lights/

Green lasers, again

Also making the news this week was a green laser caught on a motion detector camera near Mount Fuji, Japan. The lidar laser was emitted from NASA’s ICEsat-2 satellite monitoring ice loss from the polar regions. The green laser is only visible under certain conditions. It’s the first time it’s been captured by ground observers as the clouds scattered the beam, making it visible. https://scitechdaily.com/mysterious-green-lasers-near-mount-fuji-japan-have-a-chilling-explanation/

Back in January, a green laser array measuring ground levels was visible from Mauna Kea. I noted this in the WWN of February 3. 

Flash over Kyiv

A flash of light over Kyiv, Ukraine justifiably produced some panic. A bright glow appeared over the city and the air raid sirens activated and defense was on alert for an hour. That’s as far as it went as officials determined it was not a Russian attack but assumed it was satellite parts burning up in the atmosphere. NASA says it wasn’t that. So, a meteor is now thought to have caused the glow. https://news.sky.com/story/mysterious-flash-of-light-over-kyiv-sparks-alarm-and-confusion-after-nasa-denies-its-satellite-crashed-12861552 and https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/world/europe/flash-over-kyiv.html

UAP hearing reveals no alien activity

I usually don’t cover the wacky UAP stuff going on in the US but on Wednesday, the hearing delivered another disappointing assessment of the UFO mystery in which so many people are deeply invested. Over 600 cases of anomalous sky objects were being tracked by Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). During the public portion of the hearing, Director Kirkpatrick stated that, "AARO has found no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology or objects that defy the known laws of physics." While there were a few that are still unsolved, most are readily explainable as known air craft, balloons, drones, etc. After the collective disappointed sigh, I’m sure the believers engaged their cognitive dissonance and will keep soldiering on. It’s unrealistic to think that any government-based study will reveal what the UAP/UFO believers wish. And it’s very unrealistic to think a study will ultimately do any good in settling the matter. https://www.space.com/pentagon-aaro-ufo-hearing-april-2023

Silver metallic UAP appears over the Middle East

There was an interesting highlight to the AARO hearing that got pro-UAP/UFO media excited - a declassified video taken over an undisclosed location in the Middle East by a Reaper drone showed a metallic orb in the sky. The object was discussed as an example of a typical UAP - round, silver-metallic, with not discernible propulsion. The video appears to show the object moving very fast but this could be an illusion due to the drone placement. While the object resembles decades of reports of unusual objects encountered by people on the ground or that follow cars, this particular video could be a mylar balloon. I’m not sure what the odds are of those things in this area but it’s not wise to jump to more extreme conclusions. I think it’s interesting, considered my love for earth lights and anomalous natural phenomena. However, I can’t let my imagination sweep me away. https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kxvdy/pentagon-says-reaper-drone-spotted-metallic-orb-ufo-in-middle-east

Here’s the video.

Sky noise wakes up York, PA

These really are strange times and people are stuck in a mode of increased vigilance in looking for anomalies and making a lot of noise about them. This story, from York County, PA, should never have made the news, but it did. That’s thanks to security cameras, neighborhood online social groups, and news media who will post anything for clicks. People heard a loud noise pass over their houses before 4 AM in Southern Pennsylvania. The deep vibration woke people up across a wide area. With all the talk about UAP/UFOs, drones, rocket launches, and war in other places, they were uneasy. Facebook groups are a common location for people to share observations. Security cameras captured the sound that was clearly an aircraft. At least the reporters made an effort and contacted the small local airport. Their flight tracking (which anyone can look up), showed a small military turboprop plane and a huge Ukrainian AN-12 cargo plane had passed over around this time. The AN-12 is very loud and likely accounts for the sound. https://www.fox43.com/article/news/community/mysterious-noise-southern-york-county-york-airport-felton-winterstown-facebook/521-d3539a1c-ef61-4693-bdc2-2b1027823d98

Human self-sacrifice

A very seriously disturbed couple committed a self sacrificial ritual in a brutal way in India. They prepared a fire altar and then decapitated themselves using a self-made guillotine. Their heads then rolled into the fire. While human sacrifice for rituals is not unknown, it is rare for people to do it to themselves. They left two children. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/india-couple-behead-themselves-homemade-guillotine-hindu-ritual-human-sacrifice/

Velocipederaptor

Four cyclists (the velocipede kind) in France created the worlds largest GPS track image of 636 miles. They created the image of a velociraptor, which is marvelous. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/20/france-Guinness-World-Records-largest-GPS-drawing-velociraptor/3421682002544/

Rocking foster parent

A bald eagle at the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Mo. thought he was doing his job by incubating an egg even though he had no mate. The sad truth was that it was not an egg but a rock. That didn’t prevent “Murphy” from carefully tending and defending his “precious” from other birds. When an orphaned eaglet needed care, Murphy was prepared. He tended to the new chick well. It will be up to keepers to teach the baby how to fly and hunt. Murphy never mated and can’t be released due to a damaged wing. The eaglet will be released when grown. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/us/murphy-bald-eagle-rock.html

Croczilla photographed

A wildlife photographer captured great photos of the infamous Croczilla in the Everglades National Park. She knew that park employees saw the 14 ft American Crocodile at a certain place and finally her patience was rewarded. Crocodiles are more timid than the more abundant alligators and more rare, perhaps only around 2000 in the US versus 200,000 alligators in the Everglades. Croczilla is the largest found in the wild in the US. https://petapixel.com/2023/04/14/wildlife-photographer-finds-croczilla-largest-croc-in-the-florida-everglades/

Photo by Kymberly Clark

One less cocaine hippo

Hippos aren’t native to Columbia but a herd brought there by late drug lord Pablo Escobar thrived and pose a threat to people. Now numbering over 100, they have no natural enemies, except people. Last week, one of the hippos was killed when an SUV hit it on the highway. The occupants were unharmed, which was lucky because hippos can weigh 2 tons. The animal are causing not only hazards to people on the ground and in cars, but they are messing up the local river ecosystem. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/one-pablo-escobars-cocaine-hippos-killed-hit-suv-colombia-rcna79420

Silver fox sighted

Townspeople in Welsh villages have caught a glimpse of a rare silver-black fox. It’s likely an escaped fox imported to the area as they are not native to the UK. Because the black foxes are not wild, the animal officials are not responsible for catching it. They expect the animal may be stressed and are setting up (humane) traps to catch It. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65313340

Texas beach remains turn into clickbait

Another strange animal-like object was found on a Texas beach and it makes for clickbait for those who think remains of dead animals are news. As usually happens, ridiculous persons who love to see their comments post ridiculous suggestions of what it is. Ignoramuses called it a “nightmare” or “alien”. People REALLY should spend a bit more time getting to know how natural creatures look. In this case, the object was the remains of a large fish that had been caught and cleaned. The feathery gills were attached to bony arches and spiky parts were teeth that grow in the throat of some fish. Look it up. https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/outdoors/article/mystery-creature-bolivar-beach-17902259.php

Bobcat went for a ride

A bobcat ended up inside the front end of a car in Wisconsin. There is little detail to this story where police manage to extract the animal from a busted grill and get it into a truck before releasing it. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/04/20/bobcat-grille-Portage-County-Wisconsin/2621682001148/

The ideal vacation?

Beatriz Flamini was part of a project to study the effects of living alone, underground. So she existed in a cave, 230 feet underground in Granada (Spain) from November 2021 to early April (with only 8 days above ground due to a technical issue) without human contact. During this experiment, she lost track of time, she had no idea of what was happening in society, and she experienced some auditory hallucinations. She also said she didn’t want to leave. You know what? That sounds like a mighty good vacation to me. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/15/beatriz-flamini-cave-spain-500/

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