Weekly Weird News for 9 December 2022
Weird stuff is booming these days
Thanks for reading this wrap-up of some of the more bizarre stories of the week. I have updates on several past items but first, let’s begin with some possibly frightening new trends in terrorism. Or maybe not. We should never jump to conclusions too quickly.
Power attacks
As if we didn’t have enough to fear, the news this week of a deliberate attack on an electrical substation in North Carolina that knocked out power for days, and may have caused one death, drew attention to what may be a series of attacks. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/us/power-outage-moore-county-investigation-thursday/index.html The media is reporting that threats to power grids are increasing and that several incidents in Washinton and Oregon in November may be part of a nationwide terrorism effort. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/pse-substations-among-five-attacked-in-pacific-northwest-in-november/
The FBI is involved in investigating a shooting incident at a Duke Energy facility in South Carolina on Wednesday. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shooting-duke-energy-station-south-carolina-wateree-hydro-station/ It’s unclear if these incidents are related and if they are aimed to disrupt LGBTQ events. So far, that is speculation as no evidence exists for it. People naturally look for patterns and connections. It is not unusual for these facilities to experience vandalism. In what might be a silver lining, the threats could force more scrutiny on protecting the vulnerable electrical grid. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/08/us/power-outage-moore-county-investigation-thursday/index.html
Barbequed iguana
We often hear of animals like raccoons or squirrels causing outages. In Florida, the midweek outage in Lake Worth Beach was caused by an iguana. https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/12/07/iguana-causes-large-scale-power-outage-in-south-florida-city/
Saturday night booms
Mysterious booms rattled several states this week, particularly last Saturday night! What seemed like an explosion occurred inside Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A security camera captured a flash and then a boom. Local residents suspect it was a homemade explosive or firework. Police were on the scene quickly but found nothing. https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/grand-rapids/explosion-in-grand-rapids-caught-on-camera and https://www.reddit.com/r/grandrapids/comments/zch9jx/explosion_in_grand_rapids_caught_on_camera_is_the/
Around the same time, home security cameras captured a flash a second before a boom rattled the ground in Kootenai County, Idaho. Police didn’t find any damage, such as from an explosion, and didn’t locate the source of the sound that they concluded was from the air, probably from a meteor exploding. But residents also suspect it was explosives. No meteor was seen. https://cdapress.com/news/2022/dec/03/unidentified-boom-heard-pf-and-rathdrum/
Slightly earlier, around 9:35 PM, a flash and boom was captured in Sewell, New Jersey. The local meteorologist received reports of hearing the boom all the way north to the Poconos in Pennsylvania. He said there was a temperature inversion that could carry sound but it seems unlikely that the sources were the same. No meteor was spotted. https://www.facebook.com/NorEasterNick/videos/1336548340457971/
New Jersey noise
On Monday afternoon, residents in southern New Jersey felt repeated rattling of windows and shaking of their houses. Some assumed it was seismic activity and reported it to the VolcanoDiscovery website (which was weird). But no earthquakes were actually measured by any seismograph network. The VolcanoDiscovery website logs anecdotal, unconfirmed reports but one must check the official records to determine if the ground actually moved. Instead, this again appears to be from an aerial source. The suspect is aircraft activity out of the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River. Southern New Jersey is no stranger to loud booms. These are often likely related to aircraft creating sonic booms. https://www.nj.com/news/2022/12/rumblings-reported-in-nj-monday-but-no-evidence-of-seismic-activity.html
Hawaii volcano tourism
The activity at Mauna Loa continues but still does not pose a threat. In fact, people are coming in to see it, with thousands of cars driving along the lava viewing route causing the National Guard to aid in traffic control. A mayor in Hawaii is dismayed at the disrespect tourists are showing in their behavior. He cites trash set to burn on the lava and people trespassing and throwing marshmallows. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/12/06/live-usgs-civil-defense-provide-update-mauna-loa-eruption-continues/
Suburban animal attacks
Previously, I’ve listed stories hear about strange animal attacks. Notably, attacks from animals have become more prevalent and less fearful of humans in suburban neighborhoods. This week, there was news of two bold attacks on children from animals that may or may not have been infected with rabies. Luckily, the small animals did not cause serious injuries and the parents responded quickly. Both incidents were captured on security video. In Connecticut, a 5 yr old girl was attacked on her front porch by a raccoon that latched onto her leg biting her. Her mother responded by grabbing her and putting her in the house while holding the raccoon in another hand and flinging it away. https://abc7chicago.com/girl-attacked-by-raccoon-ashford-connecticut-attack-home-surveillance-camera/12523396/
In Los Angeles, a father rescued a 2 yr old who was bit and dragged by a coyote. She also ended up with some injuries. https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/us/coyote-attack-los-angeles-girl/index.html
Both animals escaped.
Dogs save sheep
But in Georgia, a Great Pyrenees dog responded to a coyote attack on a flock of sheep, killing 8 coyotes and chasing away 3 more. Other dogs on site rounded up the sheep. Casper, however, attacked the intruders and was seriously injured and could not be found for two days. When he reappeared in critical condition, the owners had him treated with help from money raised for his care. He’s doing well. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/09/sheepdog-coyote-attack-killed-eight/
Beached Boat
In a follow-up to last week’s story about a strange structure found on a Florida beach, archaeologists have determined it is probably a 200-year-old cargo or merchant ship. It will remain buried. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wooden-ship-1800s-uncovered-florida-beach-beach-erosion-caused-recent-rcna60517
Cruise ship had a very bad time
Rogue waves are waves that exceed twice the height of the significant wave height at the time. Research has found they are fairly common. A cruise ship, Viking Polaris, traveling near Argentina in the treacherous Drakes passage had a run-in with such a wave two weeks ago. The ship was not heavily damaged but the wave shattered glass and broke down internal walls. An American woman passenger was hit by the glass and died, four others were injured. The event followed an incident where another woman was injured during an excursion trip on an inflatable boat. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63846157 https://nypost.com/2022/12/07/viking-cruise-passengers-describe-rouge-wave-that-killed-one/
Wave clouds
Less terrifying and gorgeous “wave” clouds appeared in Wyoming this week. The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability forms clouds that look like the ocean surf. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63912257
Hum follow-up
Back in October, I listed a piece about the Holmfield hum in Yorkshire. The investigation did not find the cause of a bothersome low-frequency hum. The BBC has a follow-up about how this case is closed but remains unresolved. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-63610977
Baby had surgery
In another follow-up from last week, the baby in New Zealand whose parents refused a life-saving operation for him because of their demand for unvaccinated blood to be used, no longer have a say. The High Court has taken over guardianship of the child until surgery and recovery occur. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/480297/high-court-takes-guardianship-of-sick-baby-at-the-centre-of-dispute-over-donor-blood The surgery has taken place and the baby is doing well as protesters picketed outside the hospital with nonsensical claims about children's health. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/480419/blood-donor-case-baby-s-surgery-takes-place-at-starship
Strange creature guessing game
What was this strange creature found on a UK beach? It was the subject of “mass opinionation” where people ignorant about wildlife and zoology make confident guesses in comments. It is not an “alien” or unknown animal, not a baby “Nessie”. It’s a thornback ray that had parts cut off and was discarded to die. The picture and story paraded through the tabloids.
Angry ancestors
In a very bizarre story, and a lesson in dangerous belief, a man in South Africa died when he performed a ceremony near his home where he attempted to talk to a swarm of bees he believed were his visiting dead ancestors with a message for him. The bees attacked him. Instead of interpreting this in the way we outsiders would, the natives conclude he’d done the ritual wrongly or failed to read their message correctly. Some say the ancestors were angry. Animal managers in the area request people contact professionals to remove bees. https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/most-painful-thing-ever-family-distraught-after-man-killed-while-talking-to-swarm-of-bees-20221207
More Tanis controversy
Back in April, there was news of the Tanis fossil site in North Dakota that appears to show direct evidence relating to the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs and other animals of that time. The findings at the site have been controversial since the first news came out. This week, the controversy continues as collaborators in the research are now engaged in accusations of faking data. A Ph.D. candidate claimed she was scooped by project lead Robert DePalma in publishing the data which was supposed to be a collaborative effort. DePalma has previously faced criticism for some sloppy work back in 2015 and for unconventional methods and what looked like attention grabs. DePalma’s paper, published in a reputable journal, has serious irregularities suggesting the data was manufactured. DePalma has so far failed to produce the original data. https://www.science.org/content/article/paleontologist-accused-faking-data-dino-killing-asteroid-paper
Thanks again for reading!
I remember years ago when I was probably old enough to know better, letting off fireworks before November 5 – I found that a single double happy when tossed into an empty dustbin would make a very satisfying sound. Half an hour later a couple of cops turned up saying they'd had complaints about noise and they suspected someone was exploding small pieces of TNT or something they asked me if I'd heard anything strange. Just some kid letting off firecrackers I said.:)
Incidentally, would you have used the term "natives" if this bee incident had happened in Britain? Or Germany? Or any other country full of white people?
"It is not unusual for these facilities to experience vandalism."
I visited a similar facility some years ago in a professional capacity. They were trying to bury pipelines underground but were running into permitting problems because it was potentially harmful to the local gopher tortoise population, and they were rather resentful of it. Someone else asked why they didn't just install the pipelines above ground and they said "Because people shoot at them for fun." Didn't seem to occur to them that they had a redneck problem moreso than a gopher tortoise problem.