Posted on December 18, 2015 by MOTW Admin

A guest sent this weird video

As you can imagine we don’t get the same kind of guests as other more conventional museums. Everyone who visits is interested in weird things. That’s why they come to see our collection of oddities and artifacts that include everything from a Fiji Mermaid to a haunted skeleton. However, some visitors bring a little something of their own. I often talk to guests who have strange tales to tell of things they’ve encountered.

After a tour, one woman told me about the strange things that they experienced in their home. She told me she would send video that showed a ghostly orb. I agreed to blur out the face of her child for privacy, but here is the video that she sent.

Near the end of the video, at about the 5-second mark, you can see a small trace of light that appears from the lower left and rises up to leave the frame to the right. She said that they encountered things like this and had even experienced what seemed to be the spirits of dogs that wandered into the bathroom. She did not feel these were dangerous. In fact, she felt like they gained protection from the watchfulness of these entities.

Shadowman-3 — Shadowman by Timitzer
[CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

We have guests who have shared their experiences with Bigfoot, UFOs, and other strange encounters.

Not all are positive stories. Another guest shared that he had multiple encounters with Shadow People. They seem to have followed him as he has moved to different locations and he experiences tension and dread from these encounters.

Most of the tales, however, are one-time events, brief encounters that have no real evidence, but they know what they saw, what they experienced. They just seem glad to find someone who can hear the story and appreciate it for what it is, a bizarre experience that they can never forget.

We take such tales seriously and offer help to those who need it. Some are interested in advice on how to deal with such entities and want to do a clearing to remove them. Others are willing to share space with the spirits and just want to better understand how to get along.

We always welcome the weird experiences of our guests. If you have bizarre pictures or video that you want to share let us know and we’ll try to include your encounters in future blogs. In the mean time, know that the Museum is a place where such things are definitely respected. To coin a phrase: “We are ready to believe you!”

Posted on December 11, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Is this how it all ends?

''Four Horsemen of Apocalypse'', by Viktor Vasnetsov. Painted in 1887.

In the midst of the big holiday season there’s nothing like giving a little thought to the end of the world. While wars, pestilence, disease, and alien invasion are still the favorite stories, there is a danger lurking out there that we can’t really do anything about.

It’s the sun! This video talks about how the sun might take us out.

Pretty scary stuff, eh? Of course, if it was to happen, what could we do? Would we even have time to react? The sun is eight light minutes away from the earth, which means that its light take eight minutes to reach us. An event might be hurling something slower, but it’s likely to come quickly.

There might be signs, though. Who’s keeping an eye on this? SOHO, or the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, has been keeping an eye on things for 20 years. They even have software you can use to see what’s happening with the sun. The video said that we could get about 15 hours of warning if a serious event were to occur. Since a lot of the damage is more to our infrastructure and our electrical system than to our persons it’s likely we could just shut down for a while and everything would be fine. Of course, we’ve never really been through it like this before so we don’t know exactly what will happen.

So, just go about your business, and pay no attention to that big yellow ball that is watching and waiting in the sky.

Posted on December 4, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Try these weird Christmas traditions

It’s December and the final holidays of the year are in full swing. Christmas gets most of the attention, but it’s certainly not the only one in town. Mental Floss has an article featuring a few other holidays you might want to celebrate this year.

Of course, if you are going to stick with Christmas, there are many strange traditions available there as well. This infographic on Love Home Swap has a list to view, but we’ve grabbed some favorites for you right here.

Strange foods

Every holiday has it’s foods. Thanks to the 1983 film A Christmas Story, a generation of people in the United States (and maybe around the world) think about having Chinese food for Christmas dinner, but there are other bizarre traditions. Try one of these:

Mopane-worm-meal — A delicious dish of mopane worms
Photo by Ling Symon [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons”

South Africans enjoy a traditional delicacy of fried mopane worms. These are actually caterpillars for the Emperor Moth. They are high in protein and can be prepared as a simple fried snack or an elaborate dish like the picture.If that’s not to your taste, you might enjoy some Greenland traditions. Have a little Mattak (also known as Muktuk), made from raw whale skin. If that’s too tame, and you really want to do it up right you might prepare Kiviak. That’s essentially 400-500 whole auk birds that are left to ferment in a hollowed-out seal carcass for 3-18 months. The fermentation softens the auks so that every part can be eaten except for the feathers. I guess there’s a bucket for those. Kiviak is best served cold and outdoors. (That will never come out of the drapes!)Of course, you don’t have to go for something that exotic. An advertising campaign in 1974 left ripples in time as many Japanese families eat at KFC on Christmas Eve. This is especially interesting as the day is not a national holiday in Japan and not widely celebrated there.

Bizarre decorations

If the person across the street has had their Christmas decorations up since before Halloween you can add a little challenge to the scene with some of these lovely twists on the traditional holiday theme.

If you really want to get some attention you might consider adding the Catalonian caganer to your crèche this season. The BBC has a full article on this little bad boy, but it’s basically a figure defecating (yes you read that right). It’s been a part of decorations in this area of Spain for about two centuries. Why? It probably started as a joke in poor taste and then marketing got hold of it. Caganer figures come in an enormous variety of styles. You can even find pictures of giant displays in the shopping centers.

If the poo theme has appeal, you can continue it with another Catalonian tradition called the Tio de Nadal. As this article on Atlas Obscura explains, this is an adorable decorated log which is filled with presents for the family. It is cared for and even given a blanket to keep it warm. Finally, on Christmas Eve the little guy is put into the fireplace and the family takes turns beating it while commanding it to poop out presents. It’s like a piñata but Quentin-Tarantino-style.

I have to admit that I like the Ukrainian style for decorating trees. Along with the traditional decorations they include spider webs and spiders. This tradition stems from a legend about a poor widow and her children who were excited to find a pine tree growing next to their house, meaning they would have a Christmas tree. However, they were too poor to decorate it. The spiders in the area heard their tears and spent the night covering the tree with their intricate webs. When the family awoke they found the tree covered in the ethereal silken lace. As the sun rose and the golden rays touched the webs they turned each one into silver and gold and the widow and her children never wanted for anything again.

So, don’t put all those Halloween decorations away!

Supernatural beings

Jólakötturinn will get you if you don't get new clothes. — Jólakötturinn will get you if you don’t get new clothes.

Kallikatzaros by ΟΕΔΒ 1961 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

You’ve all heard about Santa Claus, and you’ve probably been hearing plenty about Krampus lately, but there are plenty of other interesting creatures who reward and terrorize people for Christmas. Try these on for size:

Cats are notoriously dangerous to Christmas trees, but in Iceland the Yule Cat (or Jólakötturinn) will devour anyone who doesn’t receive a new item of clothing. Socks probably count. We don’t know about ties. This seems to be a more recent tradition, started in the 19th century, but so did the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future. We don’t require our child-devouring beasts to be ancient, as long as children are being devoured. (…so buy someone some socks!)

You might also experience a horde of Kallikantzaroi from Greece, evil goblins that lurk underground but escape to the surface for the 12 days of Christmas, wreaking havoc. They are essentially destructive hooligans but rather than wearing sports team paraphernalia they are black-haired, dog-faced creatures with goat hooves.

A wine-drinking, present-delivering Christmas witch? Sign us up!

Of course, not all supernatural creatures of the season are bad. Some are rather nice. For example, In Italy, the friendly witch, Befana, delivers toys and sweets on the 5th of January. (Clever that, because everything is on the after-holiday sale!) She sounds like a hoot, too, flying around on her broom delivering presents for good children—leaving coal for the naughty ones—and consuming wine left as a gift for her.

So, there you have it! Several interesting traditions you can use to spice up your holiday. Of course, you should also add the tradition of visiting the Museum of the Weird to pick up some unique gifts and see our exhibits. See you soon!

Saul Ravencraft's signature

Posted on November 27, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Shocking Black Friday Carnage (video)

In the camps people begin to stir. They have waited restlessly for days, leaving family and friends behind for a grim existence without luxury. While others gathered around the Thanksgiving table, they remained vigilant, preparing for this moment. Now the day is upon them.

Adrenaline quickly overcomes the bleariness of fatigue in the predawn hour, but this is not something that arrives with the sun. The attack has been coming for days and planned for weeks. Notes are consulted as each objective is confirmed. Time to go to the line.

Everyone tries to keep their focus, surrounded by enemies. “Keep your mind on the target,” one of them thinks, nervously pumping her legs in place to deal with the waiting…the endless waiting.

Finally, suddenly, the signal is given. Darkness gives way to blazing light as the doors are flung open. The line surges forward. There! There! There is the first objective! It’s in view. The throng lunges, but not everyone makes it in the first wave. Some are cast aside, the first casualties of the day, as Black Friday has begun.

Yes, its the day of dystopian shopping, where individuals from all walks of life turn into a snarling mob that looks more like something from a Mad Max movie than a start to the holidays. We don’t have any footage of this year’s carnage yet, but here are some highlights of incredible scenes from last year.

According to this article from the Huffington Post, the term Black Friday has nothing to do with businesses getting “into the black.” The term was coined by the Philadelphia Police sometime in the 1960s to describe the mayhem they experienced trying to keep the peace in terrible crowds and traffic as shoppers descended on the city. According to this blog, the term was not really appreciated by retailers as late as 1985. Of course, all of that changed when some marketers decided they could stir things up with customers using the term and it has all gotten more insane ever since.

I’ll try to update this with some current footage when it becomes available, but you won’t find me out there getting it first hand. I’m going to rest comfortably in my bed and then I’ll see you at the Museum of the Weird tonight.

Of course, the Lucky Lizard is offering a great deal, that doesn’t require you to get up early. This entire weekend you can get 25% off almost everything in the store with the purchase of a museum ticket. Get away from the madness of the malls and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of our mummies, shrunken heads and other amazing oddities. It’s all November 27-29. See you there!

Posted on November 26, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Thanks for everything

Digital collage of Thanksgiving dinner themes — HappyTurkeyDay!!
Digital art by Lewis Minor [cc-by]

Today is the day when the United States has our traditional Thanksgiving holiday. There are many stories about the history of Thanksgiving, but today it is largely recognized as a day where families and friends gather with a celebration of food and often football.

Of course, we aren’t the only ones to have a day to focus on gratitude. Many cultures have such days with many different customs. Honestly, it’s always a good day to give thanks for what you have.

Here at the Museum of the Weird we are grateful to have spent the last 10 years sharing our unique collection with people of the world. We are grateful for the thousands of people who come through our door and appreciate our oddities and share with their own friends. We are grateful for the employees and performers who passionately help us share all of this. We are grateful that the city of Austin is a place where we can be as weird as we need to be and it’s just not a problem. There are some cities where you can’t really do that. (Trust us on that!)

The Museum is closed today so everyone can be with friends and family. Please enjoy this blast from the past, a classic “Weird Al” Yankovic video that seems appropriate to the day. Of course, we’ll be back tomorrow. If your Black Friday gets too dark or you just want to get away from the hoards of zombie shoppers come and take some time away in the quiet of our mummies, shrunken heads, and two-headed animals. You might even find the perfect gift in our shop for those unique people in your life.

All the best to you and yours.

Posted on November 20, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Astronaut’s “UFO” tweet only latest in long history of encounters

At 3:56 PM on November 15, 2015 astronaut Scott Kelly posted the following Tweet from his year-long sojourn on the International Space Station. Do you see what we see in the top right corner?

Let’s look at that a little more closely.

Some say this is merely a reflection captured in the picture. Others suggest it was a subtle way for Kelly to share something that has been controversial for astronauts to discuss since the 1960s, encounters with UFOs. This article on syti.net reports some of the amazing encounters that astronaut have apparently had with extraterrestrials since the earliest reaches into space. Here are the highlights:

Major Gordon Cooper – Orbiting the earth in a Mercury capsule, May 15, 1963, he reported a glowing, greenish object approaching him. The object registered on the tracking station’s radar, so it was substantial. He had an earlier sighting as an F-86 pilot of metallic, saucer-shaped disks flying over Western Germany.
Donald Slayton –Another Mercury astronaut also saw an unexplained object in 1951 while testing a P-51 fighter in Minneapolis.
Robert White – While doing a high-altitude flight of an X-15 in 1962 he saw a “grayish” object “about thirty to forty feet away.”
Joseph A. Walker – Also executing X-15 flights, he filmed strange objects during high flights.

The most startling information is the following exchange that was picked up by ham radio operators who were eavesdropping on the NASA broadcasts during Apollo 11, July 21, 1969.

NASA: Whats there? Mission Control calling Apollo 11…

Apollo11: These “Babies” are huge, Sir! Enormous! OH MY GOD! You wouldn’t believe it! I’m telling you there are other spacecraft out there, Lined up on the far side of the crater edge! They’re on the Moon watching us!

Later, a professor (who prefers to remain anonymous) was talking to Armstrong about his experiences at a NASA symposium. He reported the following discussion.

Professor: What REALLY happened out there with Apollo 11?

Armstrong: It was incredible, of course we had always known there was a possibility, the fact is, we were warned off! (by the Aliens). There was never any question then of a space station or a moon city.

Professor: How do you mean “warned off”?

Armstrong: I can’t go into details, except to say that their ships were far superior to ours both in size and technology – Boy, were they big! and menacing! No, there is no question of a space station.

Professor: But NASA had other missions after Apollo 11?

Armstrong: Naturally – NASA was committed at that time, and couldn’t risk panic on Earth. But it really was a quick scoop and back again.

Are these exaggerations? misquotes? misunderstandings? Is there a cover-up? The original syti.net article cites other stories with links to additional material.

Are we heading toward some big revelations involving alien life? The recent Mars disclosures are preparing us for bigger news. Perhaps it’s true. I could certainly handle the truth, as long as it’s not like the Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man.” (If you haven’t seen it you really need to. It’s on Hulu.)

I guess we continue to wait and wonder.

Posted on November 13, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Man attacked by brain-eating worm given only 30 minutes to live

Luis Ortiz, a California college student, was suddenly struck by a crippling headache and became very ill. His mother rushed him to the emergency room of a Napa hospital where neurosurgeon Soren Singel ran a brain scan. What he saw was terrifying.

A tapeworm larva was eating into Luis’s brain and unless something was done immediately he had only 30 minutes to live! Ortiz was rushed to emergency surgery where the still-wriggling parasite was extracted. Here is video of an interview that CBS News did with this fortunate survivor.

According to this report by the US centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) these larval cysts in the brain – neurocysticercosis – can develop after a person swallows microscopic eggs passed in the faeces of a person who has an intestinal pork tapeworm. They can also come from swimming in infested water.

The eggs hatch inside the body and the worms sometimes make their way to the brain. According to the CDC approximately 1,000 people end up in the hospital with these larvae. Few are such an extreme case as this Luis.

You can’t go through life worrying all the time about brain-eating worms, but clearly there are a few things we should pay attention to. Cook that pork! Be cautious where you swim. Try not to eat people’s faeces, especially people who eat raw pork!

We are glad that Luis survived this ordeal. What a terrifying experience! If you’ve had an amazing medical encounter, tell us.

Saul Ravencraft's signature

Posted on November 6, 2015 by MOTW Admin

What happens when this squirrel leaps from a 21-story building? (video)

A squirrel managed to climb its way to the top of an apartment building but then found no place to go. Onlookers were surprised to find the little creature so they couldn’t help but record it. Then this happened.

Assuming this was a typical building, that was a leap of about 210 feet! As you saw, the little guy seemed to be unharmed. How is this possible?

They answer is wonderful! According to this article, squirrels seem particularly suited to falling. They are small, light, fluffy and tend to spread themselves out when they fall. All of this creates a tremendous amount of air drag on the plummeting squirrel. This opposing force usually counteracts the pull of gravity enough to let them survive. We certainly can’t argue with the video evidence.

Is it time for a squirrel-based superhero?

Posted on October 23, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Ghost hag stalks children in Ft. Worth museum

You take your children to the Fort Worth Museum. After a day of educational fun you come back home and review the pictures of the day.

“Who’s that?” your child asks pointing to someone in a picture. With a chill, you realize that there is something unearthly in the picture. Something that was there with your child!

This is the exact experience that one gentleman had. Here is a picture he took in a little mock grocery store exhibit they had set up for younger children.

photo of a grocery store exhibit for kids with miniature shopping carts, shelves full of items and a checkout register — This looks like harmless family fun

In this next picture things look a little different. What is that strange figure in the upper right?

a photo of the grocery store exhibit in the museum with a ghostly figure in the upper right — What is that thing in the top right of the picture?

Do you see? Look again…

Closer view of the mysterious draped figure that seems void of color with exagerated arms and hands — Seriously! What is that?

The original post discussion was on Reddit by KRAMERisCRUNK. He says that when he took the picture he did not see anyone in that part of the exhibit. Skeptics insist that he was mistaken, but they weren’t there, were they?

In the discussion is this comment:

[–]CagedGod

Is this just a weird camera trick or is it evidence of the unseen world? If it is an apparition, what is its reason for being around these children? Is it just watching or does it have another purpose?

Most spirit encounters aren’t actually harmful. They are just strange and surprising because they defy our understanding of reality. The main spirit in our own Museum is sometimes even helpful in her own way and we definitely feel that she watches over things. (We are going to attempt to make contact with her and any other spirits in the area on Wednesday the 28th. Reserve your spot.)

I cannot draw any conclusions about this photograph. I do take the photographer at his word that he did not notice anyone there when he took the picture. It remains a mystery…and we like those.

Posted on October 16, 2015 by MOTW Admin

Chupacabra proof found in Chile?

Drawing of a chupacabra, a small humanoid creature with large black eyes and spikes coming out of its back

The Chupacabra is perhaps one of the most mysterious creatures that we follow. A newer addition to the cryptid list, these strange, blood-sucking creatures were first reported around 1995 in Puerto Rico. Variations of the creature have ranged from a small humanoid with large teeth and a spiked spine to a dog-like creature seen around Texas. In all cases the appearance of the chupacabra includes death to livestock with a mysterious lack of blood on the scene, as though the predator was thirsty for it.

After much conjecture, the Daily Mail reports a farmer in Chile who has actually found and preserved two corpses of the legendary creature. Javier Prohens, a goat farmer, had his lunch suddenly interrupted by farmhand 54-year-old Bricio Saldivar who was very agitated. He took them to the corpses of these bizarre creatures outside of Monte Patria. The remains were unlike anything they had ever seen.

Picture of two animal bodies found in Chile, thought to be chupacabras — Two mysterious bodies might be the mysterious chupacabra

Close-up view of chupacabra corpse head — Closeup of the mysterious corpse shows vicious teeth and human-like ears.

In the Museum we have a display of several pieces of evidence for Bigfoot. We reported recent evidence where people have heard the creatures in Canada, yet many still deny their existence. Will these bodies help people to take the chupacabra legends more seriously?

More updates as they become available. Come visit the Museum of the Weird to see our evidence for mysterious creatures.