Weekly Weird News for 27 January 2023

Don't eat random food

Hey, everyone. Hello. Welcome to another collection of odd bits of news that I found while trying to avoid real news. As usual, I skip the things you probably heard about unless I have something useful to say about them. I did find some strange things afoot in the world. Hope you enjoy. Please share!

Sausages in Mailboxes

In what is undoubtedly the head-scratchiest story of the week, an island community in New Zealand has experienced random sausages-on-bread appearing in their mailboxes. Yes, you heard that right.

Some people say it happens once a month. They first thought it was a joke, now it’s a bit more mysterious. The food isn’t eaten, obviously. It shouldn’t take much longer for the pranks to stop or the person to be found out. It’s just strange. https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/01/22/waiheke-residents-tormented-by-mysterious-sausages-in-mailbox/

Sabotaged marshmallows

Residents in Michigan reported four incidents to police of adulterated marshmallows in yards of homes in a certain neighborhood. The food items contained tacks or fish hooks. The residents fear that wildlife or pets could be harmed by the items. What’s particularly strange is that many residents have doorbell cameras and no one has caught the perpetrator. Hmm. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/01/19/farmington-hills-police-warn-pet-owners-to-watch-out-for-marshmallows-stuck-with-tack-nails-fishing-hooks

Dallas zoo on edge

What’s going on at the Dallas zoo? It’s a mystery, but someone may be out to harm the animals or be the catalyst for a bad situation. One animal is dead. Several others have been put in harms way. First, a clouded leopard escaped. She was later found safe and returned but there was a hole cut in the enclosure fence. Subsequently, a similar breach was found in the langur exhibit but none of the monkeys escaped. This week, the endangered vulture died. An examination determined the bird had a mysterious wound. Security, while good before, has been increased. But who is sabotaging the exhibits is still unknown. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2023/01/25/dallas-zoos-start-to-2023-includes-an-unusual-death-a-missing-animal-and-torn-enclosures/

How do you do, fellow kids?

A high school in New Jersey is on edge after it was discovered that a 29 yr old woman enrolled in the school after presenting a false birth certificate. The kids were wary but it took four days to discover the ruse and the woman was arrested for presenting false documents. She did interact with students during that time. Parents are upset at the security breach but no article has an inkling of WHY Hyejeong Shin (not the K-pop model) enrolled in the school. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hyejeong-shin-29-arrested-fake-birth-certificate-high-school-freshman-new-brunswick-new-jersey/

Collapse of giant wind turbines

Giant wind turbines are collapsing around the world. The reason? Poor quality construction for structures that experience a lot of stress. Wind turbines large and small have experienced catastrophic failure from different manufacturers in different countries at different times. It’s guessed that the rise in demand for installation has resulted in poor quality control that result in structural failure. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a42622565/wind-turbines-falling-over/

Antivax version of Paul is dead

A few weeks ago, I listed here the manufactured story about Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapsing for reasons related to vaccines. Since Hamlin has made a good recovery from his cardiac collapse on the field, and has appeared in public, the fringe believers have only doubled down on their nonsense claims by saying that it’s not really him but a body double. The claims are being hyped on social media sites where dramatic fake events get more attention and spread faster and farther than actual news. They are designed to do exactly that, just like a real virus. https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/anti-vax-conspiracy-theorists-spread-absurd-claim-damar-hamlin-is-not-alive-and-nfl-is-using-a-body-double/ar-AA16HBBg

White spots in the Bahamas

It’s long been observed that patches of white sporadically occur in the shallow waters of the Bahamas. Samples showed the patches, called “whiting events” were caused by an unusual excess of calcium carbonate in the water. Even after much speculation and documentation of the events by satellites, the cause of the events are still undetermined. The events occur more often in spring and winter and peaked in area in 2015. Researcher can’t yet say if the cause is chemical, mechanical, or biological. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150866/mysteries-remain-about-bahama-whiting-events

Dog shoots man

A few months ago, I included in this newsletter a story of a man who was apparently shot, fatally, in Turkey when his dog stepped on his rifle, which discharged. A similar incident has happened in Kansas. Emergency officials determined that the dog discharged the hunting rifle and the 30 yr old man in the front seat was dead at the scene. The incident was declared an accident. Unfortunately, while unusual, these dog + gun incidents are well documented and have happened repeatedly. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/01/25/dog-shoots-man-kansas-hunting-trip/

Old map sparks treasure fever in the Netherlands

The Dutch National Archive published thousands of historical documents in early January. One of which looked like a map with an X that marked the spot where some people think Nazi treasure is buried.

Treasure hunters have flocked to the town randomly digging and using metal detectors. However, authorities had previously used the map back in 1947 and found nothing. After getting a cold reception and having no luck, the gold diggers have mostly left town empty handed. https://apnews.com/article/berlin-netherlands-business-d45dfa2a3f4be5d284b0da1a940b7395

Holocaust denialism

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, Holocaust denialism is on the rise according to a new study. The survey found almost a quarter of young adults don’t accept the fact-based historical accounts of the atrocities against Jews. This percentage is higher than in Canada, the US and the UK (15-16%). https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-729462

Electric rocks

Two viral videos circulating on that troll-infested ocean of garbage that is Twitter have suggested that magical rocks have been found in Africa that generate electricity. As always happens, this has become fodder for actual news media who loved that it was called “vibranium” (as in the Black Panther fictional material). Read the deets at my Spooky Geology. https://spookygeology.com/viral-videos-of-electric-rocks/

Mermaid contest

Despite many offers of a reward, no one has ever found scientific proof of Bigfoot. In a new publicity stunt, Chicken of the Sea food brand is offering a $1 million for evidence of a mermaid. I think their cash is safe. However, the popularity of depicting mermaids as real and reports of encounters with them is on the rise. There are hundreds of CGI videos of “mermaids” circulating online. Some cultures do strongly believe they are actual water spirits. People also engage is what’s called “mermaiding” where they don a fitted flipper sleeve and swim around. The company will give a smaller reward to the best image or video, thus propagating the content that some gullible people will love to embrace as genuine. https://fox8.com/news/mermaids-real-chicken-of-the-sea-offering-1m-to-person-who-can-find-one/

Flying spiral

Here’s a story that repeats itself so often now, that it’s a wonder it makes the news at all. A spiral of light was spotted in the night sky and some people, so the news reports say, think it’s an ominous space visitor.

It’s rockets. It’s always rockets. This time, it was the Space X launch rocket seen by Hawaii’s Mauna Kea observatory. In the past, other rockets in other countries have created sky spirals that freaked out the observers who thought it was a portal to another dimension or the apocalypse. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/01/24/flying-spiral-spotted-over-mauna-kea/

Ice disc

This looks like a magical place in the Scottish Highlands. Hikers discover a wonderful surprise.

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Thanks for reading!

Keep on holding it together in these strange times!