Weekly Weird News for 9 September 2022
Sometimes, a cloud is just a cloud
Hello and welcome to another edition of my weekly newsletter where I bring you the most interesting weird news of the world minus the garbage. I named this newsletter in accordance with my Twitter moniker “Sharon of the Strange Times”. I adopted this name a few years ago when the world turned upside down. It’s never leveled back up. The partial reason for this, I think, is the news media. The focus of nearly all content outlets is on the sensational. There is little effort given to getting the facts correct and telling the typically complex and nuanced story. I make some attempts to point out the nuances and omissions in some of the stories I list here but I’ve learned how difficult and time-consuming it can be to research this material. Besides, people often prefer to consume junk food news. Understanding the real world is difficult and possibly more so than ever before. I hope that my homemade newsletter helps you comprehend these crazy times a little bit better.
First up this week is an update on that pool of blood found in suburban Harrisburg, PA.
Explaining all the blood
There is an answer, of sorts, to the mystery of a pool of blood found on the street in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. It’s a bit unsatisfying but maybe we don’t want to know the details. Police say a person came forward to admit he had a “medical issue” while walking home from a football game. He fell and struck his head. He did not go to the hospital. This doesn’t square with the description of the amount of blood so we must conclude this cause is not valid or that the police exaggerated or misinterpreted the situation. I’m prone to adopt the latter because they seem to mess up quite frequently. https://local21news.com/news/local/mysterious-pool-of-blood-in-cumberland-county-solved-by-police
Elizabeth ascending: Signs in the skies
One of the top stories of the week was the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Because it was made known that she was in grave health earlier in the day, people were aware something was up. So when her death was announced on the partly cloudy and rainy afternoon, a coincidental rainbow was seen over Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. People naturally took this as a sign of Her Majesty’s ascent into Heaven. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a41123522/rainbow-windsor-castle-queen-elizabeth-death-photos/
The temporary view of a double rainbow (not an unusual atmospheric event, really) was seen by some as a symbolic reunion of the Queen with her husband Philip who passed away in April, 2021. The tabloid Daily Mail capitalized on the interest and sentiment by claiming people noticed cloud formations shaped like the Queen’s head. Such content is guaranteed to get clicks as many look for deeper meaning and a sense of universal connectedness. Expect other such signs, manufactured connections, and possibly ghost tales to surface in the coming weeks.
Mt Rainier cloud
Second to animals, I do love stories about sky phenomenon. As usual, we have a few this week. First was a curious case of a meteorologist jumping the gun about a wisp of vapor at the top of Mt. Rainier. On September 7, several people noted the cloud at the volcanic peak. Twitter was abuzz with rumors that the volcano was actively “venting”. A local weatherperson posted a video before she got any confirmation info from the geologic authorities. As typically goes on Twitter, when the official USGS volcanic observatory and National Park Service noted it was a (not unusual) lenticular cloud and not “venting” of gases, some denialists called that pronouncement “stupid” because CLEARLY it was volcanic activity. They seem to be totally ignorant of how ridiculous it would be to attempt to hide volcanic activity. And, ignorant that such clouds often form over high peaks. The job of the scientific authorities is to monitor the conditions and issue safety warnings. They know what’s going on and random tweeters do not. Daily, we are reminded of how science illiteracy, lack of critical thinking, and distrust of authority can create panic and reinforce misinformation that is hard to tamp down. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/mount-rainier-isnt-erupting-heres-whats-going-on/ and https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/news/september-7-2022-cloud-formation-over-mount-rainier.htm
Ball lightning captured on video
A woman watching an electrical storm in England captured an interesting orb of light on mobile phone video. Between the intense flashes of lightning, there appears a fast-moving ball of light moving generally parallel to the ground from left to right in the sky, too quick to be a plane, too slow to be a meteor and not a reflection. Is it ball lightning? It’s one of the better videos I’ve seen that claims to be so. https://www.chad.co.uk/news/weather/spooky-storm-caught-on-video-by-pleasley-woman-3833926
Man eating Isopods
Tiny “sea bugs” are chewing on people on California beaches. The media hype is over the top - calling them “mini sharks” on a “foot-biting rampage”. Puh-leeze. They are annoying, like chiggers or flies, but they aren’t going to kill you. The common isopods eat flesh and will draw blood as they congregate near shore. It appears that the population is thriving this year. https://www.livescience.com/mini-shark-beach-bugs-biting-feet
Vampire burial
Occasionally, ancient burials are interpreted as revealing a belief in “vampires”. Archaeologists have discovered a grave in Poland from the 1600s with the remains of a woman buried with an iron sickle across her neck leading to the conclusion that it was an extra precaution so that she would not rise up again. The woman had a protruding front tooth leading to additional speculation that this made people wary of her. https://www.sciencealert.com/vampire-in-poland-found-buried-with-a-sickle-to-prevent-the-rise-of-the-dead
Running away seemed like a good idea until it started to rain
A chimpanzee who escaped a Ukrainian zoo was found safe but had to be coerced into cooperating with her return. A keeper sat with the animal, and when it started to rain, she went to the keeper and allowed her to put on a raincoat and comfort her. The chimp was placed on a bicycle and wheeled back to her enclosure without incident. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/07/chimpanzee-escape-zoo-kharkiv-ukraine-raincoat/
Badonkeydongs
Boxes containing donkey penises were confiscated at a Nigerian airport. Donkey parts are smuggled out to be used in traditional medicine preparation in Hong Kong and China. The lucrative trade results in the animals being killed for their body parts and their population is suffering. https://apnews.com/article/oddities-hong-kong-global-trade-lagos-9aa1a8b599263c3620991571bf91b8fe
Well, after that, I got nothing…
See you next week.
Please send stories, especially from local sources.
Ball Lightning: my grandma told a wide-eyed 6-year old about a glowing ball that landed on the lawn during a thunderstorm and exploded. When I was 8, I heard about a ball that landed on the lawn, rolled into the barn, and exploded in there. At 10, she told of a ball that landed on the lawn, rolled into the barn; and when she went out to investigate, it exploded in the shovel she had used to pick it up. Apparently, her memory for details improved with age.
I don't see what I would call lenticular clouds in the video clip and still photo, in contact with the mountain and looking as if they would be interpreted as venting. There is a wisp of cloud extending off to the left, in the clip, that could be interpreted as indicating volcanic activity but it doesn't look lenticular to me. The clip shows an elongated cloud some distance above the peak but it has some features unlike a lenticular cloud in my estimation.