WEEKLY WEIRD NEWS – Page 35 – Museum of the Weird

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Guest Blogger

MYSTERY TRIBE LEAVES BEHIND BODY-FILLED JARS

Human remains nside a log coffin at Phnom Pel. Photograph courtesy Nancy Beavan

A research team has been uncovering burial sights of a mysterious tribe that vanished a long time ago, since 2003. Even though they found up to 10 such spots in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia, some with humans remains that date back almost 4,000 years, there’s still little information on the ones who left the creepy, bone-filled jars made from wood, behind.

National Geographic writes:

Perched in some cases on precarious cliff ledges, centuries-old log coffins—such as this one, pictured alongside researcher Nancy Beavan—and “body jars” are the only known traces of an unknown Cambodian tribe. Now new dating studies are beginning to assure the unnamed culture a place in history.

Ten such burial spots have been found in the Cardamom Mountains since 2003, and at least one is at least 160 feet high (50 meters)—the intention apparently being that “anyone trying to disturb the burials would break their neck,” said Beavan, who led the new study.

Beavan’s team has radiocarbon-dated wood, teeth, and bones from four of the sites to between A.D. 1395 and 1650, placing them smack-dab in the decline of the Khmer Empire, based in Angkor. However it’s unclear what, if any, influence the empire had on these mountain people, said Beavan, of the University of Otago’s Department of Anatomy in New Zealand. “Until now, experts had no idea when the sites had been established or how long they’d been in use.”

Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Guest Blogger

WOMAN EATS AN ‘EARTHY’ DIET, OF ROCKS!

Teresa Widener, 45, eats rocks off the ground.

A woman from Bedford, Virginia who enjoys eating rocks, was recently featured on an episode of 20/20 delving into the world of medical mysteries.

Teresa Widener, who by all accounts is an average, healthy 45 year old woman, has a not-so-healthy habit.

Daily Mail writes:

A woman has told of how she eats rocks that have been picked up off the ground.

For more than 20 years, Teresa Widener, a 45-year-old woman from Bedford, Virginia, has regularly sucked the dirt off rocks before crunching them between her teeth.

The mother of two, who works with special needs children, suffers from pica which is a disorder that causes people to eat inedible objects.

She told ABC that she has been able to break rocks in her mouth ‘pretty easily’ for more than 20 years.

‘I like that it has an earthy flavour’, she said. ‘If I know I have some at my house I feel better, just knowing they’re there…they’re there for me when I’m upset or whatever.

‘Mmm-hmm, yeah. They crunch on my teeth.’

Sometimes, she neglects to wash the natural objects because she craves the dirt that is attached to them.

NEW TV SHOW LOOKING FOR WEIRD AND UNIQUE HOMES

A new show is coming out soon and is looking for weird, strange, and unique homes to feature on television.

Do you have a unique home or maybe know someone who does?

If so, click the link below to head on over the AMS Website where you’ll find all the info and contact information to submit.

From the AMS Pictures website:

Home Strange Home

Join our host, Chuck Nice, as he explores some of the most structurally fabulous, uniquely decorated and just downright strange homes in America!

Each one-hour episode of Home, Strange Home will showcase the most unique and breathtakingly beautiful homes our country has to offer. You’ll see homes of all shapes and sizes, from houses that spin to off-the-grid abodes, as we travel across America to meet home owners who threw conventionalism to the wind to build a one-of-a-kind creation.

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Guest Blogger

NASA FINDS OLD SPACECRAFT ON THE MOON

NASA has found the crash site of its' very own spacecraft from the early 60s.

Located by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is currently scanning and mapping the surface of the moon, the picture below shows the site of where the old lunar module was intentionally downed once it’s mission of finding a suitable area for the Apollo and Surveyor missions was finished.

Discovery writes:

NASA scientists have found the crash site, pictured above, of a spacecraft set into orbit during the early 60s. This one–thankfully–is not crawling with Decepticons. They believe it is the missing Lunar Orbiter 2which disappeared back in 1967 during a passage over the far side of the moon, when the craft went out of telescope and radio range.

Lunar Orbit 2′s primary function was documenting areas of the moon that would be most hospitable to the Apollo and Surveyor missions. During its run, it returned a total of 609 high resolution images and 208 medium-sized frames. This includes the Copernicus crater which is considered by many to be the Picture of the Century.

While the spacecraft was intentionally downed on October 11, 1967, scientists had yet to find the crash site–til now.

The wreckage is thought to have been located by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which is currently mapping the lunar surface in unprecedented detail. During its mission so far, the spacecraft has gathered more than 192 terabytes of data; that’s nearly 41,000 DVDs worth of data, images and maps! One of its key findings is our solar system’s coldest spot: a crater near the moon’s north pole was recorded at minus 415 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrr!

ANGEL, ALIEN, OR CGI?

A new video has been circulating recently that claims to be evidence of an angel, or possibly an alien, making a quick stop down on Earth, then flying away in an instant. It all happens pretty quick and was caught on a security camera nearby, even a few people ran over to inspect where the thing had landed. Is this footage of something we’ve never seen before, or another person trying to pass off a fake video as the real deal?

What do you think this video shows?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDubUuplR5g

The Huffington Post writes:

Is it the work of a holy being, or a homely prankster?

A security video taken on Sept. 11 last year — reportedly at the Cilandak Town Square in Jakarta, Indonesia — appears to show what YouTubers describe as an“angel-like spirit” flying into view and leaving in a burst of light seconds later.

People with flashlights then storm the area where the winged being appeared, seemingly to investigate the strange occurrence.

Some are saying that the video shows an angel — others think the “humanoid” figure might be a visit from another dimension.

“You can see the pulsating. … I think it’s an extraterrestrial,” says the narrator ofanother YouTube video who dissected the images.

United Press International is reporting this week that the video could be a hoax, basing its findings on YouTube comments.

“First of all, we have one static picture, on which picture of alleged ‘light being’ is mounted,” the news site quoted a commenter as saying. “Nothing in that lobby moves except it. And then suddenly, after it disappears, we see a man in lower right quadrant of video who is walking by, who has suddenly appeared in almost middle of frame, coming from nowhere, apparently un-baffled by appearance of huge winged light creature in front of his undisplayed path. And creature illuminated entire floor of that building. Eh.”

FANTASY NO MORE! WORLD’S FIRST WIZARD ACADEMY OFFICIALLY OPEN

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, 68, has opened the Grey School of Wizardry.

You can’t make this stuff up, people! Life is just too strange and weird, all on it’s own.

The man pictured above, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, 68, has opened the world’s first actual wizard’s academy, the Grey School of Wizardry in California and, it’s an officially recognized academic institution to boot!

Daily Mail writes:

He is the real-life wizard headmaster giving Harry Potter’s Dumbledore a run for his money.

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, 68, has dedicated his life to studying the Dark Arts – even doing the shopping in his wizard costume and wand.

Now the magic master has opened the world’s only registered wizard academy, the Grey School of Wizardry, as he prepares to make Hogwarts and the world of Harry Potter a reality.

‘If you’ve ever read Harry Potter and wondered if wizards really do walk among us, perhaps behind a secret train platform, or in secret communities, I can tell you that we are absolutely real,’ says Oberon, from Catoti, California.

Today, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s Grey School of Wizardry is the first wizard school to be officially recognized as an academic establishment.

Like Hogwarts, the Grey School teaches 16 departments, including Alchemy, Beastmastery, Horse-whispering, wand-making and spell casting.

FUNERAL TURNED PARTY WHEN DEAD MAN ‘WOKE UP’

These stories are all too common in the world of the weird. You’d think people would be a little more sure and positive that their loved one is dead and gone before planning a burial.

I guess I would believe he was gone too after being in this vehicle when it crashed.

9 News writes:

A man pronounced dead following a car crash by Australian paramedics who then left the scene has been discharged from hospital after making a remarkable recovery, a report said Friday.

Daniel Huf, 30, was trapped upside down in the wreckage of a Porsche in a Melbourne suburb and was declared dead after being treated at the scene on April 1.

He was reportedly left in the car for up to an hour as police began their investigations until emergency services officials began removing what they thought was a corpse and discovered a feeble pulse.

MYSTERIOUS MARINE CREATURE CAUGHT ON FILM

What is this underwater creature that's been caught on film?

This oddly shaped thing is said to be a new, undiscovered creature filmed in the depths of an as of yet, unamed ocean and has been dubbed the “Cascade Creature”.

It resembles a silk sheet, floating on the currents flowing underwater but, doesn’t look like much other creatures that are known to science. Some say it’s a jellyfish, while others say it’s just a whales embryonic sack floating around.

Luckily for us there’s a video for us to take a look ourselves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E-8_wDgN7c

Discovery News writes:

A strange creature allegedly filmed by underwater drillers in the deep ocean on April 25 has sparked intrigue and controversy on the Internet. Theories about the mysterious animal range from a jellyfish to an unknown marine version of the Loch Ness monster to a whale placenta.

Neither the source of the video nor the location where it was filmed have been revealed, leading some people to suspect a hoax.

Others note that the video seems authentic, and that a hoaxed video would likely be much more dramatic. Scale in the video is unclear, and without more information about the drill site (for example the diameter of the pipe the animal moves in front of), it’s impossible to know exactly how big it is.

…There are a few clues to this creature’s identity. First, it should be noted that (contrary to some sensational news headlines) the object isn’t really a “blob” at all, but instead composed of what appears to be a fairly thin membrane. It more closely resembles a satin bedsheet than a blobby monster.

This suggests that the animal has no skeleton and little or no musculature; whatever it is, it’s not a big, strong monster but likely something fairly fragile.

MAYAN CALENDAR EXTENDS WELL BEYOND 2012

The Mayan Calendar doesn't end in 2012 after all.

Have no fear, for the end is not-so-near!

Scientists and researchers have made another fascinating discovery recently. It seems the Mayan Calendar that predicts the end of the world in 2012 doesn’t, in-fact, predict anything another than over another 7,000 years of exactly the same thing that’s been going on; boring ,old, everyday life.

BBC News writes:

… Perhaps most intriguing among the finds were several finds related to astronomical tables, including four long numbers on the east wall that represent a cycle lasting up to 2.5 million days.

The east wall is mostly covered by tabulations of black symbols or “glyphs” that map out various astronomical cycles: that of Mars and Venus and the lunar eclipses.

The wall also features red marks that appear to be notes and corrections to the calculations; Dr Saturno said that the scribes “seem to be using it like a blackboard”. The Xultun find is the first place that all of the cycles have been found tied mathematically together in one place, representing a calendar that stretches more than 7,000 years into the future. The Mayan numbering system for dates is a complex one in base-18 and base-20 numbers that, in modern-day terms, would “turn over” at the end of 2012.

But Dr Saturno points out that the new finds serve to further undermine the fallacy that this is tantamount to a prediction of the end of the world. “The ancient Maya predicted the world would continue, that 7,000 years from now, things would be exactly like this,” he said. “We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It’s an entirely different mindset.”

MAN JUGGLES HIS WAY THROUGH TRIATHALON

Joe Salter juggles while jogging and has called this weird fusion of things, simply, "joggling".

We here at the Museum of the Weird are fans of all things circus and sideshow and I’m even working on my very own juggling act. Joe Salter of Pensacola, Florida has taken that very same act you’d normally find under the big-top, and took it to the streets, sidewalks, and oceans while he competed in a triathlon recently!

Have a look for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1QoqenZytO8

Huffington Post writes:

If you ever tried to do a marathon or triathlon and failed, you have a good reason to hate Joe Salter, because he not only completed a triathlon, but did so while juggling the entire time — even swimming.

This 31-year-old public school counselor from Pensacola, Fla., pulled off the incredible achievement on April 21 when he swam a quarter-mile while juggling three balls, then biked 16.2 miles while juggling two balls in one hand and ran four miles, also juggling.

Even more amazing: He did this all in 1 hour and 57 minutes

Salter, who has been juggling since he was 8, got into “joggling,” the act of juggling while running, back in 2008 and soon became obsessed with that sport’s Holy Grail: Completing a complete triathlon while juggling.