» Weird Stories

Aliens may not be so friendly says astronomer

JustinF — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:38 +0000

We may not come in peace!

telegraph.co.uk - The caution comes as more experts argue that the search for intelligent life should be stepped up.

Mr Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, said: “Part of me is with the enthusiasts and I would like us to try to make proactive contact with a wiser, more peaceful civilisation.”

But he warned: “We might like to assume that if there is intelligent life out there it is wise and benevolent, but of course we have no evidence for this.

“Given the consequences of contact may not be what we initially hoped for, then we need governments and the UN to get involved in any discussions,” he told The Sunday Times. [Full Article]

10 Mysterious Enigmas that Defy Explination

JustinF — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00:51 +0000

listverse.com – What is it about the bizarre and mysterious that piques our curiosity? It entertains our sense of wonder and excites our imagination, for sure. Luckily for us, history is marked with strange, logic-defying occurrences to amuse us. Here is a list comprised of 10 more unexplainable and interesting phenomenon and incidents that we crave so much. [Full List]

Self Rolling Snowballs in UK

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:36:02 +0000

Snow rollers are created buy nature but it takes very special conditions.

telegraph.co.uk – Also known as snowrollers, snow bales and snow doughnuts, they form mostly in unusual conditions created by a precise combination of snow, ice, wind, temperature and moisture on the prairies of North America.

But this week’s frozen weather has allowed the snow cylinders to make a freak appearance in the UK.

Ron Trevett, 55, and his wife Aileen, 54, readers of The Daily Telegraph, were stunned when they stumbled across the mysterious formations as they walked their dogs in a field near their home in Yeovil, Somerset. [Full Article]

Peter Jackson’s ghostly encounter

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:03:46 +0000

stuff.co.nz – Wellington film-maker Peter Jackson says he saw a real ghost once.

In London for the premiere of The Lovely Bones – a film he has directed from Alice Sebold’s story in which a murdered teenage girl gives her viewpoint from heaven – Jackson said he did not know what a real soul was like.

But he told Britain’s Channel 4 TV that while he could not swear the spirit in the movie was 100 percent accurate, he had seen a real ghost. [Full Article]

The Borley Rectory Most Haunted House in England

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:12 +0000

Borley Rectory is often called “The most haunted house in England.” The site of the rectory originally held a monastery, which was inhabited by Benedictine monks. Subsequent to this, the monastery came under the ownership of the Waldergrave family, who occupied it for three centuries. In the late 1800’s a descendant of the Waldegraves, the reverend H.D.E. Bull, built a new rectory on the site of the old monastery. It was not until after the new rectory was built that strange things started to happen.

One of the spectres that was said to roam the grounds was a nun ho in the 13th century fell in love with and tried to elope with a monk.According to legend, the nun and monk were caught in their get-away horse and carriage. As punishment, the monk was hung and the nun was walled up alive in the rectory. Some people reported seeing the ghostly form of the horse and carriage in addition to the nun. The reverend Harry Bull, who died at Borley, also was reputed to have haunted the rectory. He would appear dressed in the grey jacket in which he passed away.

In the late 1920s, the house was owned by a reverend (Lionel A. Foyster) and his wife who reported poltergeist-like phenomena. Supposedly the prankish spirit locked the wife in the bedroom, and other times threw her out of the bed. There were also pebbles thrown at the windows, and mysterious writing which would appear on walls.

Harry Price, a famous ghost hunter, investigated Borley Rectory in 1929, and again in 1937. He supposedly witnessed some of the activity, including the ghostly nun. Although Price spent a great deal of time in the Rectory, his research is generally considered to be biased and therefore flawed.

Unfortunately, Borley Rectory burned down in 1939, taking its secrets with it. In 1945, human remains rumored to be those of the nun were found on the site, and were given a proper burial. But the legend of Borley has not died yet; people still visit the site today to see if they can spot the ghostly nun.

Borley Recotry Writings

The Chase Vault or Moving Coffins of Barbados

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:05:09 +0000

There is a vault in a West Indies cemetery that prefers its coffins in disarray. An entire family was buried within – the Chase family. One by one, family members both young and old would die and be carefully placed in their eternal resting place – until the father (rumoured to be one of the most hated men on the island) was interred. When the ground keepers opened the door to store him within, all the coffins seemed to have scattered themselves about the floor.

The strange occurrence happened again and again. Some reports say people could actually hear the coffins moving themselves while locked inside the cement sealed vault. Many a strange thing has happened in the West Indies – not the least of which is the case of Barbados’ self-moving coffins.

The story goes that the family Chase had a crypt in a local cemetery to hold all the family members who’d passed on. The first to be housed in the edifice was Mrs. Thomasina Goddard in or around 1807. She was followed by two year old Mary Ann Chase in 1808 and then by another child – Dorcas Chase in 1812. Those coffins were all very well behaved until the family head – Thomas Chase – was to be placed inside. Thomas, as we’ve already stated, is said to have been one of the more despised men on the island. When the crypt was opened to place him inside, the other coffins seemed to have moved themselves from their orderly places. Those in the funeral party were angered at the finding, supposing heartless robbers to be responsible. This thought was soon abandoned as nothing was missing from the coffins, nothing of value had been placed inside in the first place, and (most significantly) the door to the burial site was a huge stone cemented in place. To open it, the cemetery workers quite literally had to do so with a hammer and chisel. The stone was also said to have been so big, a team of at least four men would be needed to move it. Confused, the townspeople placed the freshest body inside and resealed the vault. The newest coffin was a 240 lb. lead coffin, an extremely difficult thing to toss about for anyone looking to drag it around until money fell out.

In 1816 another burial was to take place – this time for eleven year old Charles Brewster Ames. Again the coffins were everywhere but in their proper places. The 240 lb. lead coffin of Thomas Chase was also in the wrong location. The crypt had been completely sealed and, again, had no signs of tampering or forced entry. 52 days later, another burial was to take place in the crypt.

A large crowd gathered for this one, and they weren’t disappointed. This time the cement-sealed door was closely examined before opening, with no strange findings. Again the coffins had thrown themselves about. There was a difference this time in that the first coffin that had been placed inside – the only one made of wood – had been badly damaged by the tussle. A reverend was called in to check the scene, but left with no new insight. Once again the vault was sealed. In 1819 another family burial was needed. The vault was opened with all the same results – except the wooden one found damaged the last time had not been moved one single inch.

The governor of the island (Lord Combermere) had enough at this point and ordered his own investigation – nothing was found. This time sand was scattered on the ground to catch the footprints and movements of any pranksters. The governor’s own seal was placed in the hardening cement, then the vault was ordered sealed until the next family tragedy. But the governor couldn’t wait that long. Less than a year later the head-of-state ordered the crypt opened, this time only in front of himself and several friends. The seal was perfectly intact upon arrival, but the coffins were still scattered. Some of them had even flipped upside down, and one was lying halfway up the stairs leading to the door. The sand so carefully placed before gave away no footprints or signs of water. The governor then ordered the coffins removed to a new burial site, and the crypt was left open. It’s standing open and empty to this very day.

Thirteen weird animal stories of 2008

admin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:31:57 +0000

1. MOTHER SHIP – A lost baby whale mistakes an Australian yacht for its mother, and tries to suckle on it. It has to be put out of its misery to end its suffering.

2. NELLIE THE JUNKIE – An elephant kicks its heroin habit after a three-year stint at an island rehab centre in southern China. The four-year-old Asian elephant, called Xiguang, had become hooked on the narcotic after animal smugglers captured his group by luring them with bananas laced with heroin.

3. HOUND BREW – A dog is admitted to a veterinary clinic in Austria barely able to stand on his own four paws and reeking of booze. The hungry pooch had stolen and devoured half a kilogram (a pound) of fresh yeast dough – which had fermented inside his stomach.

4. BRAZAN BAT – A young British woman expresses surprise after finding a live baby bat in her bra. Abbie Hawkins, 19, harboured the creature in her bosom for over four hours and had felt a slight twitching but thought it was her mobile phone vibrating.

5. GORILLA WARFARE – Rebels and the government in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who have blighted the Nord-Kivu province with months of fighting, cut a deal to allow armed park rangers back into the famed Virunga Reserve to care for its long-neglected gorillas.

6. GRABBING A BITE – In the U.S. state of Arizona a woman jogger runs for a mile with a rabid fox clamped to her arm. On arriving at her car she manages to lock the animal in the trunk, and race to a hospital for treatment.

7. HOP FOR FREEDOM – A small kangaroo boxes its way out of its enclosure in a German town and flees, with with emergency workers in hot pursuit. Firefighters are finally able to net the 70-centimetre tall wallaby unharmed.

8. CLONE REPRODUCTION – Snuppy, the first cloned dog, becomes a father after the world’s first successful breeding involving only cloned canines.

9. AVIAN ACCESSORY – Bosnian police impound a pigeon after finding that prisoners used it to smuggle drugs into one of the country’s highest security jails.

10. CENTENARIAN SEX – A rare and ancient 111-year-old New Zealand reptile, Henry the tuatara, is to become a father for the first time in at least 38 years, after regaining an interest in sex.

11. BOX OF CHICKEN – A Swiss court orders that a chicken be locked up in a soundproof box every night so its neighbours can get a good night’s sleep.

12. SOMETHING TO REMEMBER – A stray parrot is reunited with its owner in Japan after repeating his name and address at the local veterinary clinic that took it in.

13. HOLE IN ONE – Emergency surgery saved an Australian python that swallowed four golf balls after mistaking them for chicken eggs.

Courtesy: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com