Weekly Weird News for September 17, 2021

Watch out for zebras and canned beans

Welcome back to Weekly Weird News, a curated rundown of the weirdest, but REAL, stories of the week. No deepfakes or disinformation here. If you like this stuff, please share on social media. If you notice a theme in the following stories, it’s that social media is where people are getting a huge dose of their information by that means. So, if you share the good stuff, but not the crappy bogus stuff, you are helping!

More zebras on the run

One of my highlighted stories last week was about a small herd of zebras loose in suburban D.C. Those party animals are STILL on the loose as of this writing. This week, incredibly, more zebras are running amok. This time in Wisconsin. The pair of zebras were ushered off a busy road to the shock of witnesses and the sheriff's office in Seymour. The pair was rounded up by the owner. https://www.wbay.com/2021/09/14/loose-zebras-spotted-near-seymour-by-sheriffs-office/

Luck or perseverance at play?

A man in North Carolina has won big with scratch-off lottery tickets three times in four years. Terry Splawn won a million-dollar prize in 2017 and again in 2019. The latest win, of $100,000 was at the same store as the other two. This story is REALLY suspicious but I suspect the answer is not to be found in the article. The commenters on the NC lottery site suggest it's very weird to have so many large tickets sold at one store over so short a time span. And, one even suggests that Mr. Splawn spends a huge amount of money on tickets. I tend to think that his "luck" is probably due to the lottery being his primary job. And that this kind of publicity may not be so good for the lottery because it sounds so fishy. https://nclottery.com/NewsBlogDetails/2021/9/9/Cabarrus-County-man-says-third-lottery-win-is-unbelievable

Pig-faced shark

When the photo of an already dead fish retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea made rounds on social media, many people apparently thought it wasn't real. A quick and easy search confirms that the angular roughshark, Oxynotus centrina is very real. It is a bit weird, apparently grunting when it is pulled out of the water. Fishbase describes it as "a small bizarre-looking shark with an unmistakable high body and bristly textured skin". The interesting face helps in feeding on animals on the sea floor. The species is vulnerable to extinction. https://www.livescience.com/dead-pig-shark-pulled-from-mediterranean-sea

Zoo animals get Covid

All four troops of gorillas at the Atlanta zoo have shown signs of Covid. The infection likely started with a caretaker who was asymptomatic. The virus spread quickly through the groups. The zoo is vaccinating the animals susceptible to the virus with a veterinary-approved vaccine. The oldest gorillas are being treated with monoclonal antibodies because they have a risk of complications. Gorillas at the San Diego zoo caught Covid early this year and recovered. You may be wondering how zoo animals are given tests and vaccines. Good question! Turns out they are trained as early as possible to voluntarily submit to regular exams and to present body parts for checking using positive reinforcement. https://www.ajc.com/news/coronavirus/more-than-a-dozen-gorillas-at-zoo-atlanta-diagnosed-with-covid-19/K4XFA5FS5RATPJPZ4VKOCGOVJI/

Nine big cats at the National Zoo also have the virus. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/9-big-cats-at-national-zoo-treated-for-covid-19/2805149/

Adventures in checking gator stomach contents

That sounds like a gross job but it’s not without value. A large alligator, over 13 feet long, caught in Mississippi, was eating ancient artifacts. The person processing the carcass had heard that large alligators may swallow strange objects like dog tags, so he began to check stomach contents. He found a projectile point and a crafted hematite weight. The objects were assessed by archaeologists and thought to be more than a thousand years old, probably more. The alligators, like some birds, swallow stones to aid in digestion suggesting that they have picked up the Native American artifacts off the lake bottoms. https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/outdoors/2021/09/10/prehistoric-native-american-arrowhead-artifact-found-alligator-mississippi/5716686001/

In an update from a story in an earlier Weekly Weird News, a 12-ft alligator was caught in Louisiana by US wildlife officials in their effort to track down the animal that attacked and killed a man in the floodwaters of Hurricane Ida. The animal was dispatched and its stomach content revealed human remains. The material is being tested to match to the DNA of the man who went missing on August 30 after his wife tried to reach help after discovering his serious injuries. https://www.stpso.com/homepage/update-alligator-suspected-of-attacking-slidell-man-captured/

Bringing back the wooly mammoth

It's not the first time that a group has aimed to bring back the wooly mammoth. This time, there is some serious money behind it. A new startup project, called Colossal, has several famous investors with the goal of using genetic engineering to edit the genetic code of the Asian elephant in order to produce a hybrid mammoth. Mammoths died out 4,000 years ago. The goals are multiple: to help conserve the traits of the threatened Asian elephant, to combat global warming by releasing the hybrids in the Arctic tundra, and to make money by exhibiting the animals or marketing the process. Will this work? Maybe but probably not. Important things will be learned along the way but the goals are far-fetched, zoologically questionable, and more than a little bit ethically icky. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/sep/13/firm-bring-back-woolly-mammoth-from-extinction

Investing in deepfake exposure

In another big-money investment, Microsoft is leading the push to fund a startup company whose goal is to certify digital media as unaltered. The Truepic system would aim to ensure that digital images and videos haven't been modified since capture - either altered with software or having the date and location changed. With fake digital media poised to overrun legitimate content, something has to be done. The world is awash in misinformation and disinformation and people are ridiculously susceptible to it, to the point of harm. https://www.axios.com/deepfake-foiling-startup-26m-microsoft-97d4eaf2-849b-43ca-b98b-3f3fead42660.html

‘Havana’ syndrome under scrutiny

The US government has rolled out a protocol to report incidents related to the mystery syndrome that reportedly began to affect diplomats in Cuba at the start of the Trump administration. The effort is to gather more information as the cause of the illness remains unconfirmed. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/us/politics/havana-syndrome-pentagon.html

Meanwhile, the link to Havana has been dropped with the label now listed as "unidentified health incidents" or UHIs. (We sure love our acronyms!) The change in name is designed to remove the assumed connection to nefarious deeds by Cuba. The reports of incidents have come from other places, including in the US. https://www.newsweek.com/havana-syndrome-becomes-unidentified-health-incidents-us-backs-down-blaming-cuba-1625190

In the realm of experts, however, the mystery illness has received scrutiny even though the popular view is that it is related to a new weapon. Cuba's academy of sciences (and others) have noted that the symptoms are vague and possibly do not all related to one cause. Surprisingly, the US National Academy of Sciences report from December was poorly done and did not make a strong case for any cause. The evidence for a specific, deliberate attack on individuals is very weak. So far, the most plausible explanation is mass psychogenic illness due to stress and previously unrecognized preexisting conditions. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/14/havana-syndrome-cuban-scientists-report

Ghost hunters cause hard feelings at the museum

Ghost hunters are notorious for using gadgets with blinky lights and other features that purport to encourage or catch paranormal activity. And they can also be irresponsible with their actions. None of the pseudoscientific devices are worthwhile but they can look impressive to bystanders. An incident in a UK museum did not impress the staff after the paranormal investigation crew left it behind. The news article suggests that the ghost crew left the device there without permission noting that, when staff found the unknown device, they had to conduct a "search of the rest of the premises and make the decision (at the end of the busiest day of the year) whether to call the police because it could have been an explosive device." https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/ghost-hunters-spark-concern-kings-lynn-museum-8327472

Detroit road destruction mystery

Last weekend, an underground explosion rocked a street in Detroit and cause the road to bubble and rise 10 feet. After the smell of gas was reported, officials thought a gas leak caused the explosion. But utility officials seemed baffled, saying they had not seen this type of thing before where the land swelled. Residents nearby were left without information, some saying they were not notified of the potential danger of a gas leak. Later in the week, officials confirmed it was a water main break that caused the explosion and ground deformation. The incident affected other utility lines. This could have been much worse. Infrastructure funding now, anyone?! https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2021/09/12/southwest-detroit-residents-seek-answers-hours-after-apparent-explosion/8308883002/

Waterbody near Jerusalem turns red

It is never a good thing when water turns blood red. The phenomenon can be caused by algae, dye, or pollutional discharges, but the visuals scare the public pretty badly. A pool near the Dead Sea went red this week and made waves on social media. There is no official word yet on what testing revealed, and, I rarely find follow-up on these sorts of events since they aren't distributed as readily as the initial dramatic news, especially if the news is in another language. Unusual reports like this often make the rounds on "End Times" or "earth changes" sites that aim to push scary ideas about the end of the world. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/pool-of-water-near-dead-sea-turns-blood-red-authorities-investigating-679278

Bali bird mass mortality not so mysterious

Also popular on scare-mongering sites are news stories about mass animal deaths. I found this story on such a site, which I will not link to because they are absurd and you shouldn't visit it. The headline was about birds falling out of the sky dead with the suggestion that it was mysterious. When I looked up the story on media sites, notably, a local one, it turns out this was not that unusual. The birds died during a rainstorm, probably after they were affected by wind or a strong downburst. The "earth changes" site irresponsibly failed to mention rain at all. Always look up additional sources! https://thebalisun.com/thousands-of-birds-mysteriously-die-in-balis-pouring-rain/

Also not mysterious, hundreds of migrating birds die when they hit tall buildings. In NYC, a bird mass mortality event occurred at the WTC building when the birds were flying low due to stormy weather. https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-environment-and-nature-new-york-manhattan-new-york-city-baf07c81dc9fa8da53d4eac627129f7d

More evidence that a full moon has no medical effects

There have been many studies that have tried to show that the full moon has an effect on injuries, births, accidents, crime, etc. None have ever shown a link. A recent study in South Africa counted trauma injuries reported over several years. Once again, there is no correlation with moon phase. However, the myth is so ingrained in popular culture that it continues to be perpetuated, even with no evidence for it except people's unsubstantiated comments. http://sajs.redbricklibrary.com/index.php/sajs/article/view/3528

Michael Myers handcuffed on the beach

Police in Galveston, Texas received a call about a man walking the beach while carrying what looked to be a bloody knife. He had a mask like the killer of the "Halloween" movies Michael Myers. Well, it was a prank by a lawyer, no less, carrying a fake knife. He was charged with disorderly conduct. This certainly qualifies as weird news. Not sure what to think about this other than it was kind of dumbass thing to do but, compared to other real threats in the world today, this was harmless. https://www.galvnews.com/news/police/free/article_29888e5d-3c97-5887-b6e6-6a786c78910a.html

Snake escapes into the sewer

A woman in NYC spots a really large snake going down into a storm drain. The video captured the attention of an exotic pet expert who took it upon himself to rescue the non-native animal that had likely escaped from its owner. The boa was over 6 feet long. The snake suffered some minor injuries in the event but is recovering under the care of a local pet business until the owner claims it or it will be adopted out. https://bronx.news12.com/massive-snake-caught-on-camera-slithering-into-nanuet-storm-drain

Beans update

I may have to do a regular update on bean crime in the UK. I previously noted that certain areas of Britain were having trouble with vandals who doused people's cars and property with canned beans. The crime spree continues. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/crime/leeds-police-issue-warning-after-youths-start-trend-of-throwing-baked-beans-over-properties-3381705

If you have any comments or additional info about the above stories, please leave a comment! Also, I’d love it if you would share this post to your Facebook or other social media feed.

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