Weekly Weird News for 21 October 2022
Strange news that will make your eyes pop out
Welcome to another week in our very strange 21st-century times. I’ve whittled the weird down to a few that I think you can appreciate. Please feel free to send me current news that you think might fit with this newsletter.
Happy Bigfoot Appreciation Day
October 20th was Bigfoot Day - an unofficial day to appreciate the world’s most popular cryptid. October 20, 1967 (55 years ago) was the day the iconic film shot by Roger Patterson, who was accompanied by Bob Gimlin, was released. It became known as the Patterson-Gimlin film, or PGF, and is still hotly disputed today. If it’s really a film of a female Bigfoot walking in Bluff Creek in Northern California, it’s a brilliant accomplishment. However, decades later the evidence is no better which suggests the film was indeed a hoax. If so, it was an incredibly effective one. We still have never found the smoking gun to confirm it was a person in a suit.
Coyote coordinated harassment
Coyotes are getting bolder. A pack of about 9 canids surrounded a dog walker in Massachusetts. The resident called Police, who must have responded immediately because their lights and vehicle scared off the animals. Residents say they carry whistles and pepper spray for protection. Wildlife officials advise people not to run but to scare them off. Never feed them or encourage contact. Pets are frequently attacked by coyotes. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/swampscott-resident-surrounded-by-9-coyotes-rescued-by-police/2864719/
Cute snake on a plane
A harmless garter snake created chaos on a flight from Florida to New Jersey. The snake made its presence known in business class upon landing. Then the media hyped it up. It was unclear how the snake got into the passenger section. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/18/snake-aboard-united-airlines-jet-new-jersey
Coffins just hanging out
A mausoleum collapse in Naples resulted in coffins hanging out. The buildings have deteriorated over the years; it’s not the first time such collapses have occurred. Other burial areas in Italy have been damaged by land collapses. Nothing is forever. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/18/coffins-left-hanging-in-air-after-second-naples-cemetery-collapse-this-year
Glacial melting may make us sick
Researchers have suggested that new viruses could be released from melting glaciers. Viruses and bacteria that survive freezing may be taken up by local wildlife and spread through the meltwaters. Samples have identified strains thousands of years old that can revive under some conditions. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/oct/19/next-pandemic-may-come-from-melting-glaciers-new-data-shows
Eyepopping talent
A man in Brazil has a freaky ability to make his eyeballs protrude. He has been cited by Guinness World Records for this …err…. talent. See for yourself.
Black cat photographed
Photographic evidence has emerged for the first time of a black or melanistic Canada lynx. The report was published in the journal Mammalia. Plenty of people report sighting black “panthers” across North America and Europe. They often describe a mountain lion-sized animal. Lynx are smaller. Bobcats are also small and also can be melanistic as documented also in Canada. Neither lynx nor bobcats have the long thick tails as mountain lions do. But mountain lions do not exhibit melanism. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mammalia-2022-0025/html
Giant fish
A specimen of mola, or southern sunfish, caught in the Azores last year was one of the heaviest bony fishes ever. It was over 6000 pounds and 10 feet long. Whales and sharks are obviously larger but they are not bony fish. The mola is a huge vertically flattened fish that can grow to huge size but rarely does anymore due to overfishing. This specimen was too large to preserve and was buried. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/18/science/giant-sunfish-record-azores.html
Haunted Car Wash
I admit this is the first I am hearing of Haunted Car Washes. It is a thing. Tommy’s Express Car Wash has several locations for their Tunnel of Terror in Michigan and Illinois for a Halloween car cleaning experience. Genius. https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-news-now/haunted-car-wash-coming-to-southwest-suburbs/
Green flash
Several people in Australia reported green lightning flashes associated with recent storms. Green lightning, as opposed to the usual blue or white color, are caused by gases in the atmosphere superheated by the electrical discharge. When atmospheric conditions vary, so will the appearance of lightning. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-12/rare-green-lightning-spotted-in-record-darwin-storm/101523370
Satanic rant
Anchor person Lara Logan went off on an insane rant on the Newsmax channel saying Satan is taking control and leaders are eating the blood of children. She was banned from the air, but apparently not fired. The idea of demonic presence and occult activities is quite prevalent with the extreme right who have a warped sense of reality. They really believe this stuff. And they are influencing policy. That’s what’s truly terrifying. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/media/newsmax-lara-logan-ban/index.html
Are you experienced, with the paranormal?
A new poll by YouGov reports that 67% of Americans believe they've had at least one paranormal experience related to ghosts, angels, or demons. It’s difficult to squeeze anything substantive out of such vague and wide-ranging polls. The responses reflect a number of different beliefs - with 37% saying they experienced a presence or unknown energy (whatever that means) and 10% saying they saw a demon. There is a lot wrapped up in those numbers that aren’t teased out making it unscientific to make any conclusions from them. In the past, I collected poll results to the question "do you believe in ghosts?”. The percentage depends on many factors but mostly on how the question is asked and what is popular in media at the time. I’ll have a look to add a 2022 number but this poll did not include that question. https://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2022/10/20/americans-describe-paranormal-encounters-poll
With all the trail cams scattered around the place by now – by hunters and biologists I assume – I'm surprised that Bigfoot hasn't been sighted numerous times. Whenever I "discuss" this with Bigfoot believers I always cite the fact that a field biologist has never spotted one – and they know their ursine from their elbow.
One could quibble that viruses released from melting glaciers are old rather than new, though perhaps new to mankind. It brings to mind Cambell's classic science fiction story "Who goes there?", the basis for John Carpenter's "The Thing" movies. In it, scientists meddling with forces they don't understand (a common theme in 1950s SF) thaw out a frozen spaceship embedded in the antarctic ice, releasing a very unpleasant "passenger". It is badly over-written, but has a memorable phrase that has stuck with me since I read it as a teenager: "the dead immensity of a planet's natural forces".