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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!”

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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.

LuckyLizardBlackFridayI’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!

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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?

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What is that in the sky?

 

This goes quickly, but watch this…

What you are watching is known as “Case 68838 – Oak Park, IL” by the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). MUFON tracks and investigates sitings of UFOs and they have some pretty interesting cases in their logs.

This is the report submitted with the video:

I was shooting video of a storm cloud emitting heat lightning from our back porch. When I viewed the video I saw a streak of light that I cannot explain or rationalize. I slowed the speed and showed it to friends. It was recommended that I forward his to your organization. I am including the original video from my phone. (which is upside down) The orb appears 11 seconds in. I also included video that I inverted and cropped.

Anyone can submit a report of a UFO siting using their online tool. They receive thousands of reports which are handled by local volunteers.

One explanation offered is that this is the elusive “ball lightning” phenomenon, where electricity forms as a mass rather than a streak we we normally see it.

Great Balls of Lightning
A photo of the ball lightning phenomenon by Joe Thomissen
(Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Does that look right to you or is it merely a convenient explanation? There was no evidence of a crash or any damage to the ground from a lightning strike. The matter is being investigated.

Do you have any interesting UFO pictures or video? Share them with us! In the mean time, keep watching the skies.

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Rain of spiders

It’s an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare… spiders literally raining from the sky, falling into everything and leaving a debris of web. That was what many experienced recently in the Australian city of Goulburn.  (See amazing photos from the Sydney Morning Herald.) This isn’t the first time such a thing has happened either. This video shows an incident two years ago in Brazil.

https://youtu.be/htSDlXzWV-w?t=1m17s

While bizarre, this is a natural event when a large population of spiders migrates from one area to another, using a bit of web to catch the wind and fly them to a new home. Texas also had a migration in 2013.

Spiders are generally under-appreciated creatures that are often used for their fear-factor in movies. In reality, spiders consume a vast number of pests that invade the home and farm. In fact, a single spider can eliminate about 2,000 insects in a year (according to this spider fact page from the National Geographic Society).

Yes, they are weird and alien. Their lifestyle is gruesome. We’d rather have a rain of spiders than a rain of jellyfish any day.

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Ghosts of Gettysburg

First, the Museum of the Weird and all our staff would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. War forever changes all that it touches. Memorial Day was founded to remember soldiers of the U.S. Civil War. It’s observance has been expanded to include soldiers from all U.S. conflicts.

As we honor the fallen, we can’t help but wonder about the spirits that may linger from these conflicts. It is said that some hauntings are caused by sudden and particularly violent deaths. If that is true, the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-6, 1863, would be a perfect circumstance to create ghosts. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers from both armies were casualties in the three-day battle. The actual fighting occurred over a period of about 24 hours, meaning that a soldier fell about once every 2 seconds!

There are many reports of ghosts in Gettysburg, and it is a popular destination for people looking to have a paranormal experience. Your author poured through a number of videos and sites with everything from TV ghost hunting teams to individuals. There is a lot to see and a quick search will bring it all to you. As a taste, here is an interesting piece of video from an amateur investigator.

According to the notes on YouTube, this video was shot at the Wheatfield, a site of more than 6000 casualties. They did not notice anything at the time of filming, but saw some strange activity at the following marks: 0:44, 0:58, 1:04, 1:30.

This is only one of many pieces of evidence collected around Gettysburg that have convinced people that the spirits of the dead remain. Do you have a personal ghost story related to a war? Share it with us in the comments.

 

 

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Sounds in the sky

People around the world are reporting a strange trumpeting sound that seems to come from the sky. It’s a massive droning unlike any aircraft we’ve ever heard before.

Listen to the sounds in this video from Texas.

Another video from Germany is very similar, though less distinct.

https://youtu.be/0hgx0dbzayM

There is speculation that we are hearing the mysterious HAARP project, a radio-wave device that some claim is used for weather control. Officials deny that HAARP has any affect on the weather, though there is a patent, number 4686605,  which appears to describe exactly such a theory. HAARP was supposedly set to be dismantled in 2014, but page 92 of this US Navy budget request shows continued funding.

Other theories about these sounds are:

Have you ever experienced sounds like these? Do you think they’re natural phenomena? Share your thoughts and stories.

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NEW SPOKANE RIVER BIGFOOT VIDEO

Wow, two great Bigfoot videos in the same week!  First the Ketchikan, Alaska video and now this new one from the Spokane River area.

Here’s the clip, originally posted by YouTube user samantha13950 with the following description:

While hiking, we accidentally caught an image of bigfoot walking through the woods. I didn’t even notice until I got home and saw it on the computer! This scared the crap out of us!