Weekly Weird News for 28 January 2022

Beetles, bears, and balls of ice

It’s another weird week. I have a parade of stories for you about animals, the atmosphere, weather, and miscellaneous strangeness. Thanks to several of you who contribute links to these stories on Twitter, either via your feed or by contacting me directly. For those who message me, I see your suggestions and curate what I think might be suitable for inclusion, but I appreciate them all. It’s a bit odd there are several stories originating from Ireland this week. On to the show…

The monkey car crash - we had to gawk

One of the top weird stories of the week was probably the most disturbing. A truck hauling a trailer of 100 live long-tailed macaque monkeys was involved in a crash on the interstate in Danville Pennsylvania. Three of the monkeys escaped. The news rippled across social media as people were fascinated by the story. I’m not sure why other than remarks that it resembled the beginning of some sci-fi movie. The real story is that the monkeys had been imported from Africa and were on their way to a lab facility to be used in research. Apparently, monkeys are in high demand for coronavirus vaccine research. The escaped monkeys had no chance to manage in the below-freezing temperatures. What transpired next was not disclosed by officials and the CDC warned people not to get near any escaped monkeys. All three escapees were killed. The rest of the group will not fare much better as lab animals. It’s a tragedy that we still must use animals in this way and this group had to experience additional trauma in their brief and horrific lives. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/us/monkeys-truck-crash-pennsylvania.html

A woman who helped clean up the boxes was exposed to the monkeys who were obviously agitated. She sought medical attention and was given rabies vaccine and anti-viral medications. The monkeys seem to have not been quarantined and can transmit disease. The question remains: why were the monkeys transported in an unsecured way if they were not fully quarantined? The USDA is investigating. The animal rights organization PETA has filed a complaint about the importation of monkeys for experiments. https://www.pahomepage.com/news/danville-woman-concerned-for-her-health-after-coming-face-to-face-with-monkey-following-crash/

Kidnapped pangolin

There may be a new trend in poaching - taking endangered species and holding them for ransom. A criminal “rebel group” in the Congo is holding a pangolin and demanding money. Trade in pangolins is illegal worldwide though they are still smuggled and are the most trafficked non-mammal due to use in traditional medicines and as a delicacy. https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3nymw/an-endangered-pangolin-has-been-taken-hostage-by-armed-rebels

Sea Eagle moves on to Maine

The Stellar’s Sea Eagle that wowed birdwatchers in Massachusetts is now visiting Maine. The non-native bird, larger than a bald eagle, is enjoying the coastal buffet and doing just fine. https://apnews.com/article/oddities-lifestyle-environment-and-nature-maine-birds-c64c097700eb3d960b18731b8ea98783

Rescue goes awry

A woman in very cold southeastern Pennsylvania spotted a sick canid near her home and managed to get to an animal rescue facility. Clearly suffering from mange, the workers couldn’t decide if it was a dog or coyote. Honestly, it’s so obviously a coyote, I’m questioning the framing of this story. The “mystery animal” looks very wary and nervous in the video but donations for its care flooded it. After a week of warmth, food and medicine, a worker discovered it had destroyed the crate and escaped through a window overnight. It must have been feeling better and didn’t appreciate all the attention. Kudos to the woman for helping it but I’m dismayed at how this played out. This was undoubtedly a wild animal and that perhaps wasn’t fully considered. https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/maybe-dog-maybe-coyote-perplexing-animal-escapes-local-wildlife-rescue/SO3TPMI2RJC5VFZLZI5JV4UBNI/

Plague of beetles

A horrific swarm of beetles is a plague on a town in Argentina where weather conditions caused a surge in successful larvae that emerged as beetles. The insects are causing damage. Some sources say it is a type of rhinoceros beetle but, frankly, I haven’t steeled myself enough to watch the videos to see for sure. Too nasty. https://www.extendedforecast.net/article/millions-of-brown-beetles-in-argentina-due-to-intense-heat-728/

Grumpy bears

Researchers tracking 15 brown bears in Sweden have observed a female bear killing 38 reindeer calves in a month and then 18 moose calves the next month. This is more than expected. Scientists think this comes down to certain predatory behavior being higher in some bears than others. The tagged bears were tracked and their individual behaviors logged to help minimize conflict with reindeer herders and herd losses. It’s not clear if such bears pose a greater threat to humans or if they target easy prey. https://www.livescience.com/highly-predatory-brown-bear-kills-38-reindeer

Weird winter weather phenomena courtesy of Lake Michigan

Ice rings or pancakes on Lake Michigan are not exactly smaller versions of ice disks as described in the last newsletter, but the frozen surface breaks up and the sharp edges get rounded. Contrary to the headlines, they aren’t “mysterious”. https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/weather/midwest-chicago-lake-michigan-ice-pancakes/index.html

Giant ice balls were spotted on another part of the lake. Also not rare, the examples this year were some of the largest every noted by locals. The ice balls are a result of freezing and thawing. Slushy ice forms into balls, gets rolled around, grow, and refreeze. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/01/24/ice-balls-lake-michigan/9201277002/

Is that an iceberg off the coast of Vancouver?

It’s not normal to see an iceberg from Vancouver Island. But a woman photographed what looks like a huge one off the Pacific coast earlier this month. Turns out it was a mirage. A temperature inversion caused the image of the Cheam mountains on the mainland to appear stretched and closer because of the bent light rays. The explanation is a relief - errant icebergs aren’t breaking off in the Arctic and floating away. Yet. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/25/ghostly-iceberg-canada-superior-mirage

12th-century eyewitness to ball lightning

A medieval text about 750 years old contains a mention of what researchers think is the oldest description of the rare (and still disputed) phenomenon of ball lightning. The text, written in 1195 by a monk in England, describes a bright white ball fell from a cloud to the river in Canterbury. The motion is similiar to present day reports. Previously, the earliest recorded report was in 1638. There remains no scientific consensus as to the mechanisms of the formation of ball lightning and some still doubt the weather phenomenon exists at all as it remains very poorly documented. Almost all depictions of ball lightning circulating on social media are regular lightning, manufactured hoaxes, or generated by electrical shorting along wires. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/earliest-known-english-report-of-rare-weather-phenomenon-found-in-medieval-text-41282474.html

Mystery magnetic stellar object discovered

The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research reports that a team has discovered a stellar object that is emitting giant bursts of energy 3 times and hour. This is new and unexpected - a result of a new technique for sensitive surveying of the sky. The object appears to have an extremely strong magnetic field and may be a magnetar - a spinning neutron star that was predicted to exist but has not been documented. https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-discover-mysterious-object-in-our-galactic-backyard-unlike-anything-seen-before/

NOLA Boom

New Orleans was rattled by a loud boom that shook houses at 11:15 pm on Tuesday night. Some reported seeing a yellow flash in conjunction but authorities have no leads. It was not an electric transformer and no damage from explosions have been noted. Satellites caught no evidence of meteors. One data analyst got on the case and looked at the surveillance videos that caught the boom. In particular, one video was facing the direction of the boom and caught the flash 5 seconds before the loud noise. This enabled him to estimate the location of the explosion near an industrial canal. Authorities had no further response but note in this video that the resident says this sort of stuff happens all the time.

On social media, locals are linking together other unusual events of recent days, like the appearance of a fallstreak hole - an odd-looking cloud formation, and the explosion of a Lake Charles chemical plant, with the boom but their causes are not connected.

Wheel well stowaway survives

A man desperate to get away from his country stowed away in the nose wheel section of a plane that flew from Kenya to Amsterdam. Usually these cases end in tragedy as people do not survive the lack of oxygen and cold. Or worse, they fall. But he survived. The 22 yr old was taken to the hospital in stable condition and has applied for asylum. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/stowaway-survives-11-hour-flight-south-africa-amsterdam-plane-wheel-rcna13246

Bad clown joke

A family in Belfast, Ireland was unnerved when a creepy clown painting appeared in their backyard during the day while they were away. The prank is still unsolved but it created some temporary panic that it might be dangerous to touch or a signal for nefarious activities. Probably just a joke but not one you’d want to have happen to you. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-family-left-frightened-and-unsettled-after-sinister-clown-painting-appears-in-back-garden-41281874.html

Dead man walking to the post office

An Irish man brought his uncle into the Post Office to collect his uncle’s pension check. He needed help from his buddy because his uncle, aged 66, was sick. Turns out, he was dead. Post office staff realized this sickness was serious and called for emergency services. But it was too late. Authorities say the man could have been dead for 3 hrs prior but Declan Haughney insists they didn’t transport his dead uncle and did not try to rob him. Haughney has a checkered past. He was not charged but police are investigating. The case made national news and was compared repeatedly to the movie Weekend at Bernie’s. https://www.irishcentral.com/news/dead-man-carlow-post-office

Fake myth of a cursed car coming to the big screen

A movie is scheduled to begin shooting about James Dean’s “cursed” car. Dean died in a crash in 1955. Rumors of the cursed car and it’s origin were stoked by hauntrepreneur para-celeb Zak Bagans who bought a piece of the car to house in his Las Vegas museum. The story quickly spun into fantasy with the suggestions that pieces of the car derived from other wrecked cars, Dean was associated with the occult, and now, that the car is possessed by a demon. It’s very silly nonsense that people will end up believing is true. https://jasoncolavito.substack.com/p/james-dean-death-car-horror-movie