Weekly Weird News for November 12, 2021
Evil intent or just really bad luck
Welcome to another wrapup of the weird news of the week. This week, we have a big headline of a tragedy that also entrained two nefarious and fake rumors circulating among teens and young adults. In the way of confusion, rumors flourish. People seek out any way to try to make sense of what could have happened, especially if they can’t accept that it was a mash-up of simply stupid human error.
Astroworld tragedy immediately went ultra-weird
The Houston concert event that went horribly awry resulting in the death of 9 people rolled out in real-time on social media. As people tried to make sense of what was happening, fringe cultural themes and conspiracy ideas that are floating around were adopted and applied. First, there was the idea that people, including a security guard who was injured, had been drugged via injection. This takes advantage of the “needle panic” that has surged in the UK and made its way to the US as well. Second, because of the lack of reaction by rapper Travis Scott to the chaos in the crowd, social media pot-stirrers threw out there that it must be because he’s part of the Illuminati and that this even was an orchestrated satanic ritual sacrifice. This theme is quite old and collected artists such as Madonna, Beyonce, and even the Kardashians (one of whom, Kylie Jenner was present at this event and is pregnant with Scott’s second child). So, it was easy for people to manufacture fan fiction and spread it to the masses as possibly true.
The injection claims have so far been altogether unfounded. The guard admits he had been punched, not injected. People are not randomly injecting drugs to hurt people - drugs are expensive, they wouldn’t be randomly wasted, it serves no legit purpose, and it’s physically impossible to do in a dynamic social situation. It’s just absurd. But logic never gets in the way of a good conspiracy rumor. The satanic elements are just silly and reflect an increase in popularity of belief in “demonic” or dark magic that more spiritually-inclined people suggest is the basis of incredible riches and popularity. This is entirely a socio-cultural phenomenon. The fact that these crazy tales catch on is a function of a worried portion of the population, overly influential social media channels, and a lack of application of critical thinking. The best you can do is to calmly refute such claims by looking at the real issues. However, that doesn’t actually work too well. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/09/astroworld-disaster-fuels-wave-of-satanic-conspiracy-theories-on-tiktok
More flying humanoids
Every since Jet Pack Jack made a splash, we’ve been hearing more about sightings of “flying humanoids”. The objects over Los Angeles and other places are almost certainly human-shaped helium-filled balloons. No doubt about this. This week, a couple in Glasgow, Scotland spotted a similar figure. The GlasgowLive media outlet was astoundingly ignorant about the obvious explanation - that this was a witch-shaped balloon. Other balloon characters in human-like forms include Jack Skellington, a stormtrooper, and various superheroes. Several other “strange objects” in the sky are also obviously helium balloons, sometimes made of highly reflective mylar foil that reflects light and are not readily distinguishable as novelty items that have escaped into the sky. https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/maryhill-couple-left-gobsmacked-after-22069675
Weird weather event targets a very small area
Here is a wonderful example of bad “karma”. Fortunately, the bad luck was directed just on a car and not a person. A very localized downpour affected just one car in a parking lot in West Java, Indonesia. This report with quotes from the weather service notes the rare ultra-localized rain is odd but explainable in this area where rainfall is typically heavy. A small cloud formation was producing the rain. Without wind, it fell on a very small area. The video has no evidence of fakery. But it doesn’t show the extent of the rain, which likely was a bigger area. It is quite amusing. https://english.lokmat.com/international/heavy-rain-falls-on-just-one-car-during-storm-in-indonesia-onlookers-shocked-a475/
Mystery of the Floating Broom
This post-Halloween mystery is courtesy of some Amazon Prime drivers who spotted something floating in the sky and posted the video to TikTok. It appears to be a broom hovering in the sky. The speculated explanations are that it’s a hoax, a prop, or Harry Potter-related stunt. I have tried several sources to find out where this took place. Nothing. No details. Because of the missing details, I’m very skeptical of this story. It seems nothing more than a fun distraction. https://gamerant.com/tik-tok-floating-broomstick/
Pastel lobster saved from the pot
A light blue and pink lobster was caught in Maine. The capturer, a lobsterman who provides fresh seafood to a food company, decided not to sacrifice the rare-hued animal and is keeping the lobster, named Haddie, in a holding tank until an aquarium agrees to take it. Lucky critter! Lobster colors are a factor of both its diet and genetics. Proteins in the lobster skin are eventually expressed in its outwardly apparent shell color. https://www.masslive.com/news/2021/11/cotton-candy-lobster-estimated-to-be-1-in-100-million-caught-off-coast-of-maine-will-be-fostered-by-aquarium.html
Unexpected camels in Spain
Eight camels and a llama escaped from a circus in Madrid and wandered the streets on a Friday night until rounded up and led back to safety. The animals were part of a circus. Reports suggest that the animals were deliberately released. https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/06/europe/escaped-camels-madrid-intl-scli/index.html
Loose moose makes classroom appearance
A young moose panicked and crashed through a window into a school in Canada. The incident happened before 9am in Saskatoon so only a few children were in the community room. They were safely evacuated. The moose, slightly injured, was tranquilized and removed back into the wild. The animal appeared to have been stressed before making its wrong move. It was filmed running through the neighborhood. Its bad decision at the elementary school was likely because it was unable to discern that the glass was solid. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/moose-crash-sylvia-fedoruk-school-1.6237194
New and surprising vector for Covid-19 virus
Researchers at Penn State University have discovered that white-tailed deer, ubiquitous across the country including in suburban areas and readily encountered, are extremely prone to carrying the Covid virus. The study of recently killed dear showed a very large positive rate of infection. It’s likely that deer across the country are infected which means the virus has an easy transmission route to and from animals. This could add to the complication of controlling the virus in human population. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/11/10/1054224204/how-sars-cov-2-in-american-deer-could-alter-the-course-of-the-global-pandemic
‘Grandparent’ scam continues
The “Grandparent scam” is a form of theft that takes advantage of a grandparent who trusts people on the phone who tells them that their beloved grandchild needs help and agrees to send money. Originally, this scam was done via Western Union wire transfers. Elderly people would send untraceable funds this way after being instructed. But these companies have become wise to the scam and sometimes ask for verification. This week, in Florida, authorities are asking Uber to turn over records of a courier sent to pick up money in person from a woman who gave over $700,000 to supposedly help her granddaughter who was in an accident and in jail. The woman emptied her bank account over 13 transactions. Now, the bank that allowed cash withdrawals is being sued because the lawyer for the grandma asserts that safeguards should be in place. Elderly people can more easily fall for these confidence schemes and do not always understand the technology used in the scam. https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/florida-woman-loses-700000-grandparent-scam-81106956
Moviemaker meets the Minerva Monster
Seth Breedlove has been making films for his Small Town Monsters production company for several years now. The projects lovingly capture the feeling of these sleepy communities when monster fever hits their town. I’m a fan of these films. The first project by Seth and team was The Minerva Monster released in 2015. This creature was reportedly a Bigfoot variant in Ohio. On his return to Minerva for the new The Bigfoot Project series, the crew claims they finally had personal experiences with something strange, large, fast, and bipedal. Of course, there are opposing explanations other than that they encountered Bigfoot itself. But, it’s striking that a film crew, fully prepared to capture the creature on video, still was caught by surprise and didn’t get the footage. That creature really IS supernatural in its ability to evade detection. https://www.cantonrep.com/story/entertainment/2021/11/11/ohio-filmmaker-claims-bigfoot-sighting-in-minerva-wilderness-sasquatch/6271134001/
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