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ODD AND UNUSUAL EVENTS WHICH ARE STRANGE, MYSTERIOUS, OR JUST PLAIN WEIRD

12/9/2022

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Isn’t it annoying when something weird happens and experts some up with an explanation that sounds plausible, but it could be something else… and you’re never going to know for sure?

Strange and mysterious events happen every day, many of which we hear about on the news, most we don’t. Can these just be random events? Coincidences?

Many times scientists or psychologists can explain them. Often strange and mysterious events are natural phenomenon which our science hasn’t caught up with yet. Think about how many things were unexplained during the Middle Ages. Then, people turned to magic rather than science to attempt to understand. Humans always want to understand, and making up things is better than nothing.

Today, we are still in the dark about many things, but the basis of science has put into place a foundation upon which we, at least, can built plausible theories. In the mean time, it’s fun to read about unusual unexplained things. Some are just goofy, although unexplained – probably because no one wanted to do the work. Others are more serious. Prepare to be annoyed.


THINGS THAT GO SQUEEK IN THE NIGHT
Some events are just goofy, mildly unusual, or fairly easy to understand.

● Dog Turns Into Llama
In 1982, a man woke up to find that his dog had been replaced by a llama.

● Crocodile in England
In 1985, residents of Alnwick, England, were startled when a 20-foot-long crocodile was found swimming in their local river. If you come to Alnwick Prison Gardens, you can meet the statue of an ill tempered policeman who tragically lost his first true love to a crocodile on their honeymoon. 

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Unable to forget the memories, he entered a semi-catatonic state and never came out of it. However, another source implies he had a second wife, which throws the catatonic state into question. [My guess: this is a PR "myth" inspired by the 1985 incident, if there really was one, to promote tourism to the Prison Gardens.]
◄ Constable Croc
Image Source:
alnwickgarden.com/constable-croc/

● Unusual Birth
In 1992, an Oregon woman gave birth to twins - one was normal, and the other had two heads. [This is an easy one. Triplets, and two of the fetuses didn’t separate. It was probably twins and one single fetus.]

● Don’t’ Throw Bicycles in the Canal!
The last time the City of Manchester, England, provided bicycles for rent, the authorities literally had to tell people not to throw rental bikes in a canal. [No explanation needed. People are inconsiderate and stupid a lot of the time.]

● Dancer Entertains Lion

In the Bronx (New York City) a woman jumped into the lion enclosure, and danced. She even tossed money to the lion. [Sounds like drugs or mental illness to me.]

​● London’s First Escalator to Underground
When the first escalator in the London Underground was put into service in 1911, the public had doubts about its safety. It is a long way down in a relatively snug space. 
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As the story goes, to reassure the people, the Underground’s one-legged employee William “Bumper” Harris was enlisted to ride up and down. The apparent message was that if a one-legged man could do it, anyone could. Other sources indicate there are doubts about whether or not Bumper actually existed, but he is commemorated with a small figurine in the       
   
First London Escalator - ▲ Image source:         London Transport Museum.
   
greatwesternstar.com/post/the-first-escalator                          Peter Freuchen - ▼ Image Source:
                                                                                                          cracked.com/image-pictofact-7399-weird-world

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● Arctic Explorer Burried by Avalanch
Peter Freuchen, an Arctic explorer, miraculously did not die when he was buried by an avalanche in 1929. Most folks in this situation wouldn’t make it out, but Freuchen found a crude but successful way to save himself from death. He made a sort of dagger out of his own frozen feces and used it to dig himself out of the snow. He lost several of his fingers, but he made it out alive. 


● Inuit Village Disappears
“A small Inuit village in Canada was known by fur trappers who would pass through it occasionally. But in 1930, something weird happened; a fur trapper named Joe Labelle entered the island's premises and didn't find a single person there. In fact, 7 sled dogs were found dead from starvation in a grave that looked like it was man-made. A search was conducted to find the missing people, but not a single body was found.”
​ 
boredpanda.com/mysterious-unexplained-stories-history                                                                              
● The Porpoise Grave
On a very small island in the English Channel, a team of archaeologists working there found what they believed to be a 14th-century grave. Upon excavation, they were stunned to find the remains of a porpoise instead of a human. No one knows why the body of an aquatic creature was placed in the grave in the 14th or any other century..
 
● The Ghost Ship
This photo was taken by Jason Asselin as he was filming a music video on Lake Superior. This strange shimmering silhouette which resembled a large ship stayed in sight of the film makers for half an hour, then disappeared. 
▼ Jason never found out what it was. 

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Image Credit: Jason Asselin                                         
Source of Images: boredomtherapy.com/unsolved-mysteries


● Teleportation in Russia
This was believed to be a case of teleportation by those who witnessed the event 
▲ in 2012. If you look closely, you can see a figure in a white overcoat standing directly behind the large truck. Apparently, the person had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, leading people to believe they teleported from another location.

THINGS THAT GO BIG BOOM IN THE NIGHT
Some of these so-called mysterious events are serious disasters, at least for the people involved.

● Spontaneous Human Combustion
The case of Mary Reeser has never been completely explained. In 1951, Mary Reeser’s landlord notified the police after she discovered the doorknob of one of her tenants was burning hot. When police entered the St. Petersburg, Florida, apartment, they found a pile of ashes, the remains of a chair in which Mary Reeser had been sitting. Her backbone, part of her left foot (still wearing a slipper) and her skull which had shrunken “to the size of a teacup” [according to those present] were all that was left of her.
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   Image Source: boredomtherapy.com/unsolved-mysteries                    Image Source: 
                                                                                                                        
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Reeser
The shrinkage was unusual enough to be noted by official investigators although shrinking of the skull is not a regular feature of alleged cases of spontaneous human combustion, which was the suspected cause of the fire.

Florida officials sent a formal letter to the FBI. "We request any information or theories that could explain how a human body could be so destroyed and the fire confined to such a small area and so little damage done to the structure of the building and the furniture in the room not even scorched or damaged by smoke." [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Reeser]

The ultimate conclusions was that Mary had had been incinerated by the wick effect. She used sleeping pills and was also a smoker. Also, the floor was concrete and there was nothing near the chair. The FBI hypothesized that she fell unconscious while smoking and set fire to her nightclothes. They indicated that once a body starts to burn there is enough fat to keep the fire going, sometimes resulting in almost complete combustion of the body.

● Dyatlov Pass Incident 
Between the 1st and 2nd of February, 1959, a group of 9 seasoned hikers disappeared in the Ural Mountains of Russia. [There had been 10 to begin with but, at one point, one of them became ill and left the group to return home.]

The night of February 1, this experienced trekking group from the Ural Polytechnic Institute set up their camp on the eastern slope of Kholat Syakh Mountain. During the night, something happened that caused these nine hikers to free themselves from their tent by cutting it open and fleeing from their camp inadequately dressed for the heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures.
​

A short time after their disappearance, a massive search party was organized. The searchers eventually found the bodies of all nine of the hikers.

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       Image Credit: Unnamed members of Russian search party 1959
      Image Source:
santafeghostandhistorytours.com/
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The Dyatlov Pass Hiking Group
Yuri Doroshenko left the group before the incident and save his life.

Image Source: exonews.org/tag/dyatlov-pass-incident/
At the time, Soviet authorities determined that six of them had died from hypothermia and three killed by physical trauma. One victim had major skull damage, two had severe chest trauma, and another had a small crack in the skull. Four of the bodies were found lying in running water in a creek, and three of these four had damaged soft tissue of the head and face. Two of the bodies had missing eyes, one had a missing tongue, and one had missing eyebrows. Several had suffered skull fractures. High level of radioactivity was found on their clothing and several seemed to be sunburnt.

Of course, there were a number of theories proposed about how this had happened. One was that an incident such as infrasound ‒ sound waves with frequencies below the lower limit of human audibility ‒ an infrequent natural phenomenon which causes acute panic attacks. Another theory proposed that the deceased were killed accidently by parachutes mines detonated by the Russian Military.

Speculation included animal attacks, hypothermia, an avalanche, katabatic winds, or several of these possibilities combined. However, the official investigation concluded that a "compelling natural force" had caused the deaths. Not much of an answer.

Fifty years later, in 2019, the Russians reopened the investigation. In the resulting 2020 report, the investigators concluded that the hikers’ deaths were due to an avalanche. According to Wikipedia, “Survivors of the avalanche had been forced to suddenly leave their camp in low-visibility conditions with inadequate clothing, and had died of hypothermia. Andrey Kuryakov, deputy head of the regional prosecutor's office, said: ‘It was a heroic struggle. There was no panic. But they had no chance to save themselves under the circumstances.’"(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident)

Scientists from the top two Universities in Europe suggested in 2021 that a type of avalanche known as slab avalanche could explain some of the trekkers' injuries. When stronger snow overlies weaker snow, it is called a slab. Or as Karl Birkeland puts it, “A slab is when you have something sitting on top of nothing.”
[ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/212_fall2003.web.dir/Sarah_Schlichting/Slab.html]

A slab avalanche occurs when the weak layer lies lower down in a snowpack, with other layers of compressed snow on top. When the avalanche is triggered, the weak layer breaks off, pulling all the layers on top of it down the slope. These layers tumble and fall in a giant block, and move very quickly.

A mountain pass in the area was later named "Dyatlov Pass" in memory of the group, even though the incident happened almost a mile away. A prominent rock outcrop, located closer to the campsite, now serves as a memorial to the group.

● The Kentucky Meat Shower
This incident occurred over a very short period of time ‒ only several minutes between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. on March 3, 1876 ‒ when a woman named Mrs. Crouch was making soap on her porch in Olympia Springs, Kentucky.

Chunks of red meat measuring approximately 2 by 2 inches, with at least one being 4 by 4 inches, fell from the sky in a 100-by-50-yard area. The meat looked gristly, according to Mrs. Crouch. The exact type of meat was never identified, although according to the first report in Scientific American, two men who tasted it judged it to be lamb or deer. Several reports suggested it was beef, lamb, deer, bear, horse, or even human.
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​In an article written for the Sanitarian, Leopold Brandeis identified the meat as Nostoc, microscopic single-celled organisms that contain no nucleus (a cyanobacteria). Nostoc are some of the oldest living organisms on earth, first appearing 3.5 billion years ago. His theory that the substance was Nostoc was based on the fact that Nostoc expands into a clear jelly-like mass when rain falls on it. Actually, there was no rain immediately before or after the meant shower.
◄ Actual samples collected from the meat shower

        Image Credit: Scientific American  
        Image Source: allthatsinteresting.com/kentucky-meat-shower


In an article written for the Sanitarian, Leopold Brandeis identified the meat as Nostoc, microscopic single-celled organisms that contain no nucleus (a cyanobacteria). Nostoc are some of the oldest living organisms on earth, first appearing 3.5 billion years ago. His theory that the substance was Nostoc was based on the fact that Nostoc expands into a clear jelly-like mass when rain falls on it. Actually, there was no rain immediately before or after the meat shower.                            Nostoc blooming on the ground, a possible explanation for the meat shower.
                                                                                                                              Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons
                                                                                 Image Source: allthatsinteresting.com/kentucky-meat-shower


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​He sent samples to the Newark Scientific Association where two samples were re-identified as lung tissue from either a horse or a human infant, three as muscle, and two as cartilage.

The favored theory was that the substance was vomited up by vultures. These bird will vomit as part of making a quick escape and also as a defensive method when threatened. The flattened, dry appearance of the meat chunks as the result of pressure. Nine days later, on March 12, 1876, a similar incident occurred in London. This material was described as red "corpuscles" with a "vegetable" appearance. The phenomenon was reported by Scientific American, The New York Times, and several other publications at the time.

● Dog Suicides at the Overtoun Bridge
The Overtoun Bridge in Dumbarton, Scotland, was constructed in 1895. Ever since the bridge was built the locals believe it to be a place of paranormal activity. There are various stories about strange things that have happened there, but the most puzzling is that of the dog suicides.

In the 1950s and 1960s, rumors were again stirred up when it was realized that dogs had started leaping to their deaths from the top of the Overtoun Bridge. Since that first notice, as many as 50 dogs been recorded as having plunged to death from the bridge. Alarmed, the locals called in a canine psychologist, a veterinarian behavioral specialist, and even a psychic were called upon to shed some light on this gruesome trend, but none of them had any answers.

The behavior specialist, Stan Rawlinson’s conclusion was because dogs have no decision making ability, suicide was not possible. He backed that up with information about dog eyesight, saying dogs can’t gauge where the edge of the bridge is. The people didn’t like that answer.

​
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      Overtoun Bridge, Dumbarton, Scotland
      Image Source: ststworld.com/overtoun-bridge/

After more investigation Researchers found that dogs were jumping off the bridge on a clear day from the exact same spot and all the dogs belonged to the long snouted breeds (dolichocephalic) such as German Shepherd, Scottish Terrier, Doberman, etc.

Dr. David Sands, animal behaviorist, suggested that the particular odor of certain small animals, particularly minks, under the bridge, lured the canines to pursue the animals by jumping off the bridge. However, no such animals were ever found under the bridge.

To date, approximately 600 canines have tried to leap to their deaths. Those that succeed fall fifty feet onto a jagged rocky surface below. Eyewitnesses also say that if a dog ails in its first attempt, it returns to the edge to jump for the second time.
 
In 2022, it is now against the law to walk dog on bridges in southern Scotland.


JUST SAYIN’!
□
Sources:
Dyatlov Pass Incident
https://www.santafeghostandhistorytours.com/DYATLOV-PASS-PICTURES-DEATHS.html
https://exonews.org/tag/dyatlov-pass-incident/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=W4Cgft3Y&id=74
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/avalanche

Goofy, mildly unusual, or fairly easy to understand
https://www.cracked.com/image-pictofact-7399-weird-world-12-bizarre-events-that-shouldnt-have-happened-but-did
https://boredomtherapy.com/s/unsolved-mysteries-in-history?as=799&bdk=0
https://unbelievable-facts.com/2017/08/mysterious-unexplained-events.html
https://boredomtherapy.com/s/unsolved-mysteries-in-history?as=799&bdk=0
https://www.boredpanda.com/mysterious-unexplained-stories-history/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_meat_shower
https://www.factinate.com/things/42-facts-historys-bizarre-events/https:/www.factinate.com/things/42-facts-historys-bizarre-events/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_disappeared_mysteriously:_1990%E2%80%93present#:~:text=Since%20the%201970s%2C%20many%20individuals%20around%20the%20world,and%20dates%20of%20their%20deaths%20remain%20a%20mystery.
https://www.livescience.com/11345-top-ten-unexplained-phenomena.html#:~:text=Top%2010%20Unexplained%20Phenomena%20The%20Taos%20Hum.%20Some,beasts%20called...%20Intuition.%20Whether%20we%20call%20it%20

Kentucky Meat Shower
https://theturfgrassgroup.com/turf-care/nostoc-a-green-jelly-growing-on-your-lawn/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/kentucky-meat-shower
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_meat_shower
https://www.boredpanda.com/mysterious-unexplained-stories-history/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
​

Dog Suicides
https://meaww.com/a-mysterious-bridge-in-scotland-where-600-dogs-have-jumped-off
https://allthatsinteresting.com/overtoun-bridge
https://boredomtherapy.com/s/unsolved-mysteries-in-history?as=799&bdk=0
https://www.ststworld.com/overtoun-bridge/
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    Author R. Ann Siracusa

    Novelist, retired architect and urban planner, world traveler, quilter, owl collector, devoted wife-mother-grandmother, great-grandmother, and, according to some, wild-assed liberal.

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