Weekly Weird News for August 20, 2021
Oddities everywhere
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On to the hand-picked-by-Sharon news of the week: oddities showed up everywhere - in neighborhoods, from the sky, from the market, in the water, in the trees, on the beach…
Lots to show you this week. Let’s start with some perfectly Fortean phenomena:
Virginia fish fall, for real
The iconic Fortean phenomenon is that of fish falling from the sky. It does happen! Here is video proof from July 24, in Virginia Beach. People say it sounded like a gunshot. The fish slightly damaged the vehicle. The explanation is that a bird flying overhead dropped its meal, not an uncommon occurrence. People have been hurt by large falling fish.
The undead fish
This is a fun story. Even though it's The Mirror, it looks legit. Except, the story is several years old. It's presented as "Woman horrified as cooking fish leaps around like a 'scene from the exorcist'" Puh-leeze. The video was posted to Reddit (apparently, because I didn't go and look for it) which is where tabloids get their clickbait news, I suppose. While searching for the video to link here, I found it was on YouTube dated 2016. So it’s not a recent incident. Remember, tabloids and even local media often do NO research or fact-checking for stories that are "just for fun". However, it is crazy to see a filleted fish in the oven continue to move.
The chemicals in the animal tissue that create movement are still present in death. Even though the brain function is shut down, the chemicals still respond especially to salt (or soy sauce) that creates muscle movement. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/woman-horrified-cooking-fish-leaps-24757403
Mystery alien big cats
Another popular Fortean subject is that of mystery big cat sightings, particularly in the UK. But if you look at the photos people take of what they report as "big cats", there is often no scale for the animal to judge size. You can't tell if the cat is actually large or just housecat-sized. However, in many cases, you can tell by the other features that these felines are not leopards, pumas, or jaguars, but rather chunky "moggies" (Felis catus). That observation by unbiased commenters never seems to go over very well, though. https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/mutant-moggies-could-getting-mistaken-5772107
Some of these cats are not mysterious monsters but heroes. The pet cat of an elderly woman alerted a neighbor to the plight of its owner who had fallen down a ravine. The incident took place in Bodmin, Cornwall, U.K. where there is a history of mysterious large black cat sightings. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028495560/cat-saves-elderly-woman-fallen-ravine-cornfield-cornwall-england
Wallaby captured in PA
People reported seeing a small kangaroo in Lebanon County, in south-central PA. They were not mistaken! Wildlife officials were able to tranquilize the animal and transport it to a facility where it's doing fine. How it happened to be hopping in the fields and neighborhoods remains a mystery. No one in the area is licensed to have an exotic animal. https://www.ydr.com/story/news/2021/08/18/runaway-wallaby-captured-mt-zion-lebanon-county/8184217002/
River beacon
A flashing light appeared in the Thames in London. Guesses about what it was became a fun activity for some people on social media. It's not aliens, it's not a natural object. It's most likely a traffic beacon that will flash on battery power for a while even under wet conditions. https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/internet-baffled-strange-flashing-light-21319860
Bean vandalism
Some weirdo is vandalizing homes and property with... wait for it... canned beans. Yuck. According to the local news in Surrey, England, "the victims are understandably distressed by this unacceptable behaviour." https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/15/surrey-village-terrorised-by-bandit-pouring-baked-beans-through-letterboxes-15093870/
Greasy beach
Globs of congealed fat washed up on the shores of Vancouver, Canada. It's not known where the smelly stuff came from but "fatbergs" exist in the sewer systems. People could be dumping food waste out to sea. If this was the case, the culprit likely won't be caught. After removing 10 gallons of the stuff, authorities say no more is appearing and they are investigating. https://www.timescolonist.com/news/b-c/mysterious-smelly-fat-blobs-washing-up-on-west-vancouver-beach-1.24351875
Victims in Germany claims to be suffering from Havana Syndrome
If you've been following the news and anxiety about "Havana syndrome" for a few years now, you may or may not have noticed some interesting features that depend entirely on your opinion about what is going on. Those who think it's a scenario involving a secret weapon against US officials see the news stories, governmental reports, and medical publications as clear evidence to support that belief. Those that think it's a nebulous, probably psychogenic illness caused by stress and suggestion can readily find evidence of that. The bottom line is we DO NOT KNOW what is causing this but continued failure to pinpoint the cause means that it is more likely to not have a single, direct cause.
This week, more undetailed reports came out of Germany that two US officials are reporting vague symptoms and linked them to Havana syndrome. To be clear, there is no good evidence that these cases are related to the others. To date, the studies on those who suffer from this condition have not been thorough, controls have not been considered, and no clear pattern has emerged. The fact that reports are coming from several places around the world, affecting only a few officials and some family members in that place, does not lend itself to the explanation that a secret weapon is being used. It's critical to note that no particular "weapon" has ever been confirmed to achieve the stated effects under the conditions reported. All signs still point toward the explanation that stress and psychological contagion as the cause of this syndrome (and many other syndromes or "manias" of the past). But, the media and even US officials reject this line of reasoning and seem ignorant of the power of stressful conditions to cause illness. Something serious is going on, and it is not wise to discount the most probable cause. https://www.dw.com/en/us-officials-in-germany-reportedly-suffer-havana-syndrome-symptoms/a-58899683
Burning down the 5G
It's not just the USA that is home to those with extreme views about conspiracies. A man in England set fire to a 5G cellular tower because he believed the nonsense scaremongering about this new tech pushed on the Internet. He caused considerable damage to the mast and the building below. A judge determined the man was "delusional", suffering from mental illness, and susceptible to unreasonable claims. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gateshead-conspiracy-theorist-caused-more-21332409
Many marvelous mosquitoes
It's summer and mosquitoes suck. They spread disease through their bites to obtain blood and, because of that, are the world's deadliest animal to humans. But that's not the whole picture. Recently released book Mosquitoes of the World showcases 3,570 kinds of mosquitos, some of which are pollinators that aren't out for blood. Life is very diverse, and we are missing a lot of knowledge about what's out there. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2021/08/19/secret-life-worlds-most-hated-insect/
Many marvelous marmosets
The Amazon rainforest has the richest primate fauna in the world but biodiversity is under intense pressure from deforestation. While assessing the relationships within a genus of marmosets in the area, researchers discovered a new species that was "hidden" under another name. Learning about rainforest diversity and the populations of these animals is key to effective conservation.
Is this find categorized as "cryptozoology"? That is, it is equivalent to the search for large, unique animals that are said to remain hidden from science? No. It's straightforward zoology. The finding of new species these days often consists of nuanced work with museum specimens and genetics. In this case, the individual species were not hidden but were lacking scientific validation because of methodological problems and lack of rigor of past classification. Schneider’s marmoset (Mico schneideri) is proposed as a new species. Nature has the scientific report: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93943-w#Fig2
Snake in Aisle Ten
A grocery store bordering woodlands in Sydney, Australia was the scene of an unusual visitor in the spice aisle. A shopper was confronted by a 3-m long diamond python. What luck it was that this shopper was a wildlife rescuer with experience in snake handling. She knew it was a non-venomous kind and was able to easily coax the snake into a bag and release it. She expected that many people had walked past the resting reptile without noticing it. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-58253378
Arizona ground fissures
Arizona, as well as other arid areas, suffers from large ground fissures resulting from low groundwater levels (sometimes from pumping wells) and resulting subsidence. Cochise County Sheriff's office issued a warning for a road in Wilcox where the collapse occurred under the road but the unsupported asphalt has not yet collapsed. This is definitely an unsafe situation. https://www.facebook.com/CochiseSO/posts/5905323739539006
For more on ground fissures in Arizona, see my report on Spooky Geology.
Tragic and mysterious death of a family in Sierra National Forrest
A family and their dog were found dead in a remote area of Northern California. The bodies of a couple, their one-year-old child, and their dog were discovered in the Hite Cove Trail hiking area near what's known as Devil Gulch on the south fork of the Merced River. There was no obvious cause of death. Because of the lack of trauma or other cause, investigators suspect the area might have dangerous gases due to past gold mining, the people could have been killed by lightning, or they drank water containing toxic algae. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Remote-hiking-area-where-Northern-California-16395803.php
The water is being tested. It is known that cyanobacteria in the nearby waters can be fatal if ingested.
Ghost hunter warns others to be careful
In an update on a story from the Aug 6 issue of WWN about a woman who was injured while exploring a dilapidated building looking for ghosts. She suffered a broken shoulder blade, four broken ribs, and a punctured lung when she fell through the rotted floor and is warning people not to do what she did. She claims she didn't see No Trespassing signs. Well, there weren't any "Use Good Sense" signs either but it wouldn't hurt to be very clear in showing unwanted visitors that they are not welcome on private property, haunted or not. https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/buffalo/woman-injured-while-ghost-hunting-in-the-central-terminal-warns-people-to-stay-off-the-property/