Weekly Weird News for 24 February 2023

Mysterious floating, crawling, erupting, and climbing

Hi everyone! I’m back with a busy week of weird news. Let’s get right into it because there is a lot this week.

Balloons busted

The Balloon Wars of 2023 were a bust. But not without leaving UAP/UFO fans feeling a bit deflated. There was no disclosure, no dramatic reveal. And, it could be that the whole episode cast an even dimmer view of the efforts to investigate airborne objects. The balloons appeared to be a distraction from the impetus to study mysterious sky things. Yet, the mystery mongers, like crackpot prof Diana Pasulka keep beating the drum. It’s been decades, and still no better evidence of aliens. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/ufos-gone-mainstream-ufo-community-not-thrilled-rcna71265

Oh buoy!

But we aren’t done playing ball yet. A large rusty metal sphere washed up in Japan. Worried that it might be an explosive, or another spying device, police investigated. They figured out it wasn’t going to explode but still couldn’t identify it. It was eventually removed. Observers around the world were perplexed that the locals didn’t know it was a mooring buoy - a common thing that washes up on Scottish beaches. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64748346

Train rain stain

Many false claims were being touted related to the chemical release from the Ohio train derailment. Oddly enough, much of the bullshit was coming from right wing commentators who have a history of railing against environmental protection regulations. Hmm. https://www.factcheck.org/2023/02/commentators-push-unfounded-claims-about-ohio-train-derailment/

Meanwhile people in distant communities are worried that they are experiencing the effects. In Connecticut, people reported “soot” on their cars after a rain event. This may have been the result of the rain washing particulates out of the air but it was unrelated to the train event. https://www.westernmassnews.com/2023/02/17/questions-raised-over-mysterious-soot-like-residue-found-some-connecticut-vehicles/

People in Orange County, New York experienced a strange odor. They also wondered if it was related to the event. Again, it wasn’t. It was an unidentified local sources. The smell created anxiety that made people literally worried sick. It’s predictable that people would make the connection but correlation is not causation. https://hudsonvalleypost.com/odd-smell-that-makes-some-feel-really-sick-spreads-in-new-york-state/

Fish crawl, not fall

From Lajamanu, a remote village in Australia, comes another claim of fish fall during a rain storm. The fish were found after a storm. Similar events were also reported here in 2010, 2004 and 1974. Another town in Australia also had a similar incident. Is it an account of fish actually falling? Almost certainly not. Frankly, this story is very unimpressive to those who are familiar with so-called animal rains. Yet it’s all over the news because most people are easily impressed by exaggerated and misleading headlines. The fish are common spangled perch (grunters), very hardy desert fishes that can survive under poor conditions and disperse rapidly during rains, including via ruts in roads. https://rivers.dwer.wa.gov.au/species/leiopotherapon-unicolor/

Although people say they saw the fish actually fall, I don’t believe it. People see what they want to believe. Some fish were alive when found, also indicating they didn’t fall from a substantial height. Uniformed commentators and even meteorologists will repeat the speculation that waterspouts picked up a school of the same kind of fish and drop them. This has never been documented to have happened. The real explanation is very clear. https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/42529/20230222/raining-fish-possible-spangled-perch-falling-sky-remote-area-australia.htm

In rare cases, fish DO fall! But they are dropped by birds, either alive or partially digested.

Texarkana Fish Rain Mystery Solved: https://idoubtit.wordpress.com/2022/06/18/texarkana-fish-rain-mystery-solved/

There is actual weird weather around the US this week. Thanks climate change! https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64751049

Floating bird mystery

A weird video from Surrey, British Columbia is rocketing across social media channels. It appears to show a dead bird, likely a crow or raven, floating in midair above a street. Multiple people saw it in daylight. There have been many suggestions to explain it. The obvious answer is that it is entangled in clear thread of some sort. But it is strange that it died there without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, the bird has now disappeared so it couldn’t be examined. There are other such videos online from past years. https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/very-weird-motionless-bird-floating-in-air-captured-on-video-in-bc-6589792

Foam eruption in London

Something went wrong in the drilling of a high speed rail tunnel line. A “mini geyser” of brown foam erupted from a rugby field in west London. The material, which ended up being drilling foam, erupted when the tunneling machinery intercepted an existing borehole, sending the pressurized material to the surface. People understandably were concerned that it might happen again or a subsidence could occur when people were using the field. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ruislip-rugby-club-hs2-borehole-tunnel-euston-mystery-foam-b1061887.html

FBI accused of hiding records and gold

An obsessed fortune hunter in Pennsylvania refuses to give up on his belief that the FBI confiscated a cache of treasure hidden the forest near Dents Run. He wants his finders fee. The case remains under litigation as Dennis Parada is trying to force the FBI to release more records. The FBI says they have supplied all they could. What remains unanswered is why would the FBI cover up any finding of Civil War gold? They would admit they found it and, if necessary, fight Parada’s claim (or give him a share). There is no benefit of hiding a discovery. So, they are most certainly telling the truth that there was nothing there and Parada is one of those people who will go to his grave insisting he’s right and the government is evil. https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/fbi-records-deepen-mystery-of-dig-for-civil-war-era-gold/3503692/

Surprise CD insert

A man in Texas got a sweet surprise in a used Bachman Turner Overdrive CD. Inside was a never before seen pictured from the JFK appearance in Dallas on the day he was killed. The photo is real but the provenance is unknown. https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2023/02/21/JFK-photo-thrift-store-CD-case-Ferris-texas/4181677014450/

Froggy went-a-hopping

And finally, a funny but bizarre story from Queensland, Australia. A woman returned from a trip to find her garage splattered with engine oil from a tub. The culprit had left some distinguishing prints.

The frog hopped all over the garage, including up the walls and windows, making a huge mess, finally escaped through a hole. It likely succumbed to the oil. https://7news.com.au/news/qld/surprising-twist-as-woman-finds-mysterious-footprints-in-her-home-this-is-a-murder-scene-c-9807410

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