Weekly Weird News for 26 May 2023

Hello everyone and welcome to new subscribers.

Sad to say, there were not that many truly weird stories this week that I felt were appropriate for this newsletter. I had to do a lot of searching.

Many of you certainly heard about the unfortunate bison calf, the overhyped “UFO” sightings of shiny balloons, and the unquenchable belief of those who think fuzzy photos are solid evidence of the continued existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker. (They aren’t.) I aim to find things you may not have heard about. Some of the stories I did find this week were just stinking rotten. But here goes…

Fake photos of Pentagon explosion affect the stock market

Ah, Twitter. Ever more the wretched hive of scum and villainy. People will forever fall for fake things even when they should know better. On Monday, a fake picture of a black cloud of smoke at the Pentagon was passed around by worthless blue check Twitter accounts as genuine. One account was impersonating Bloomberg News. As usually goes, the fake news spread by contagion to even more idiotic social media accounts. (Stupid fake drama is contagious.) The popularity of the image, even with no verification, was connected to a brief stock market dip. The news cycle is rife with gullible morons and instigators. Sorry for the contempt but if you are still supporting Twitter, you are part of the problem. That place is rotten to the core and it will only continue to pollute society until it’s dead. https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kx84b/ai-generated-pentagon-explosion-hoax-twitter

The photos were later determined to be AI generated (a common thing for which, these days, should almost be assumed by default for emotionally manipulative imagery). https://www.npr.org/2023/05/22/1177590231/fake-viral-images-of-an-explosion-at-the-pentagon-were-probably-created-by-ai

Police halt event by astrologer and psychic who claims to heal disease

A man who claimed he had magical powers to cure disease attracted more than 300 people to a city in Nepal. They had come to be healed by his supernatural touch. Self-proclaimed psychic healer Bharat Bhattarai was popular on social media. Those who came with illnesses hoped for a miracle. Police halted the event and charged that Bhattarai not only didn’t have authorization for the event but that he deceived people with false promises. He’d previously been accused of defrauding people who paid for a health camp. Just like everywhere in the world, charlatans prey on the desperate. https://kathmandupost.com/province-no-5/2023/05/24/police-disrupt-psychic-healing-event-in-tulsipur

A lot of rotten in the state of Tennessee

The Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the state Standards Recommendation Committee to oversee classroom materials. Cardoza-Moore has extremist views and promotes conspiracy theories. Her qualifications in education are non existent. But she will have a say on texts approved for use. She is anti-Muslim, promote false claims about President Obama and 9/11, and also pushed fake election claims. One could argue she knows nothing about history or social studies because she fails at understanding it. She considers "U.S. history textbooks" currently used in classrooms the "greatest national security threat to the United States." Her pal Sexton, who led the House to oust two black members after a citizen protest, has been gaming the system as well, breaking the rules for eligibility since is not a qualified voter for the district he represents.

Tennessee Speaker appoints conspiracy theorist to develop state social studies standards

Orcas sink ships

Small groups of orcas are attacking and sinking watercraft along the Iberian coast in Europe. Marine animal behavior experts think that an injured whale may have rammed a boat in retaliation and now others have learned and are following. Observers say a mother orca was teaching her calf the technique. This does not bode well for us humans. https://www.livescience.com/animals/orcas/orcas-have-sunk-3-boats-in-europe-and-appear-to-be-teaching-others-to-do-the-same-but-why

Man dies in stuck in the mud

Quicksand-like mud flats in coastal areas are hazardous not because you get sucked in but you get STUCK in. And the tide rises. A 20 yr old man from Illinois died as rescuers tried to extract him from the liquid silt along the Alaskan shore. The ground looks solid but is soupy below. Several people have died previously in this area. It takes rescue crews at least an hour to get to the site and that was too late. https://apnews.com/article/alaska-mud-flats-silt-drowning-96bba1b5a8a463118e3a886ae2b01499

Spooky Geology: Quicksand is real but it’s the tide that can kill you

Too many loose screws

Highway crews in Freetown, Mass. spent hours some days picking up screws that were dumped on a busy roadway. The metal pieces lodge in tires. Even with police patrols, it took a while to catch the person doing it. A man driving without a license, registration or insurance was arrested and similar screws were found in his vehicle. The motive was not disclosed. https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/freetown-screws-south-main-street-narrows-road-tires-damaged-peter-vasconcellos/

Another mystery boom in the Carolinas

The Carolina coasts are no strangers to mystery booms. There must be some good reason why it’s almost common to experience booming sounds here. Another one rocked a wide area on Tuesday. Whatever caused the sound, likely a supersonic jet, resulted in a booming sound because of the atmospheric conditions. In addition to military planes that break the sound barrier, the area also has some seismic activity. What’s really neat is that home security cameras give us useful recordings of the events these days. https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/did-you-feel-it-boom-shaking-reported-across-the-lowcountry/

For more on the causes of mystery booms, see my Spooky Geology piece on skyquakes.

Here’s a weird topic I aim to cover on Spooky Geology - UFOs and Mexican volcanoes. It’s a thing:

Popocatepetl volcano, plagued by UFO watchers, grumbles and spews

The dangerous volcano outside Mexico City has been rumbling with activity for a while now, and emitting gases and now ash. The ash falls are disrupting air travel and local communities. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/1177917332/popocatepetl-volcano-eruption-mexico-city-smoke-ash-evacution

The volcano can erupt catastrophically and evacuation plans are in place. But many people won’t or can’t leave even if El Popo erupts. The volcano is revered. Some people trust the local “weather workers” more than the scientists. Some people also believe that the great mountain is an entrance to an underground base for alien craft. There have been many supposed sightings of UFOs “entering” the volcanoes. Mystery mongers, like UFO promoter Jaime Maussan, elaborate that the craft are using the volcano’s energy or are studying it. None of the sightings show anything mysterious even though they are framed that way. But a search using Mexico+volcano+UFO will give you a taste of the fringe. https://shotkit.com/news/couple-captures-photo-of-ufo-above-erupting-mexican-volcano/

Supposed UFO over Popo last February. It’s more likely a bird flying closer to the camera than a UFO at the summit.

For early links to stories shared here, follow my Flipboard Sharon’s Strange Times.