Demonic Tractors, Irish Alien Portal, New Jersey Drones, Magic Mushroom Ancestor and More Mysterious News Briefly

A roundup of mysterious, paranormal and strange news stories from the past week. 

Drone fever continues to be high in the U.S., especially around military bases, and contributing to the concern is Carl Nally, a researcher for UFO and Paranormal Research Ireland (UPRI), who thinks these and other sightings near military facilities in the UK and Germany are coming from an alien entry portal in central Ireland between Athlone and Slane; he doesn’t agree they are drones, saying “They would have identified them by now if they were drones – even just by shooting one of them down to see what it is. But they haven’t done that, and that leads us to believe that, possibly, it could be UFOs again”; he thinks it is “very peculiar that it’s happening in a lot of places at the same time” but “At some point, they will make themselves known, and why not now?”; interestingly, Nally says he fears artificial intelligence more than aliens. How scary can the aliens be if they like Guinness and Irish dancing?

Many of the reports of mysterious drones flying over New Jersey and other U.S. states estimate their size as ‘as big as an SUV’; those wishing to see what a drone of this magnitude looks like should contact NASA, which unveiled its new Mars Chopper concept, which has been described as six of the Mars  Ingenuity Helicopters lashed together; the Mars Chopper video shows a flying three-legged drone with six rotors, each with six blades, that could carry payloads as large as 11 pounds (5 kg) over distances of up to 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) after a charge from the Sun during a Martian day; according to the press release, the Chopper "remains in early conceptual and design stages". Or is it?

From the ‘If it looks like an alien’ file comes word that archeologists digging at the Bahra 1 site in Kuwait discovered a clay figurine made by the Ubaid people between 5500 BCE and 4900 BCE with the familiar alien face featuring an elongated head, flat nose and two eye slits; sculptures like these have been found before in Mesopotamia but this is the first to be discovered in Kuwait; Agnieszka Szymczak, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw's Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology and the expedition leader who discovered it, calls the Bahra 1 a "prehistoric crossroads of cultural exchange" and the figurine “was a total surprise for the whole team”; while looking like a classic alien, these figures are more often referred to as "lizard-headed," "bird-like," or "snake-like" and sometimes linked to artificial cranial deformation or head binding which the Ubaids were known to practice, but it is unclear where or why they learned it. As more ancient cultures around the world show similar signs of non-human entities, the hunt for real evidence should become equally as important as our modern fascination with UFOs and aliens.

The needle pointing to the real identity of cold case serial killer extraordinaire Jack the Ripper moved towards longtime suspect Aaron Kosminski recently when carpet fitter Tim Atkinson of Bradford, England, hired a scientist at Liverpool University to use a Video Spectral Comparator to forensically examine a note Atkinson bought on eBay for $305 (£240); the 14-line note describes how Aaron Kosminski attacked a woman with a pair of scissors less than a year after the Jack the Ripper killings in 1888; the VSC imaging confirmed the paper had not been altered or artificially aged, and the handwriting and fountain pen used matched the Ripper timeframe; experts generally eliminate Kosminski as a suspect because the Polish barber was believed to be in a psychiatric hospital in 1888 but this letter was written in 1889 by Reverend William Patrick Dott; Kosminski did die in an asylum in 1919 without ever being arrested; the letter could fetch $160,000 at auction. Does it finally identify Jack the Ripper or is the letter just one more Jack rip-off?

Psychic spoon-bender Uri Geller weighed in on the drone drama, claiming that they are "not man-made" but are extraterrestrial craft warning humanity of what's coming with a "show of power and high technology"; he thinks That because “these aircraft are clearly making no attempt to hide or be 'under the radar'” they want to be seen as they are “evading and outmaneuvering any effort to deter them", especially around U.S. military bases; he’s hoping that the president-elect will reveal what these UFOs really are and "one day hold a conference and take reporters, camera crews and media representatives to see exactly what I saw at a NASA base back in the 1970s – undeniable proof that we are NOT alone!". Geller will be there with bent spoon in hand so the aliens recognize him.

From the ‘Jobs You Wish You Had’ file comes a discovery by mycologists (mushroom scientists) in southern Africa of the closest wild relative of domesticated magic mushrooms, a new species of psychedelic fungi named Psilocybe ochraceocentrata which they believe shows that it has a common ancestor with Psilocybe cubensis, the most popular magic mushrooms in the world, which grew around 1.5 million years ago on the dung of wild herbivores; according to the study, “Coincidentally, this is also the period when Homo erectus became the dominant hominin in East Africa and the first to spread from Africa through Eurasia via the Levantine corridor alongside large herbivores, including bovids. These major migration events present a possible avenue for dispersal of the MRCA of P. cubensis and P. ochraceocentrata from Africa”, meaning that the ancient cattle and humans spread the spores of the magic mushroom ancestors around the world where it adapted and evolved in new habitats much early than previously thought. We owe our modern magic mushrooms to a Johnny Appleseed-like spreader – let’s call him ‘Johnny Shroomspore.

The Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization (RMSO) received an unusual photo of an alleged Bigfoot seen in a canyon between the communities of Cornfields and Greasewood, Arizona, on Navajo Nation; the person submitting said their mother took the picture two years ago while walking her livestock when she heard strange noises and saw the creature look up at her; the woman then left quickly before she or her sheep could be harmed; the submitter said there have been many “stories from Steamboat Greasewood and Navajo Station, but always, DON'T BOTHER THEM!!!: and they “try not to walk alone and we try to always carry protection”. While the photo looks interesting, it can’t be investigated and it would be difficult anyway since this is probably a Sasquatch wise to Navajo codes and signals.

From the realm of strange diseases comes ‘dartitis’, an affliction which is said to affect every darts player, both amateur and professional, at some point, rendering them unable to toss a small weighted arrow at a dartboard; the disease is believed to be purely psychological and players say it is “demoralizing” and “a real mental struggle”; Dr. Linda Duffy, professor of psychology at Middlesex University who was ranked the women’s darts world number one from 1982 to 1987, suffered from dartitis as a player and now treats others plagued with it by using cognitive behavioral therapy where the player approaches it as a challenge they need to overcome; others use hypnotherapy since there is no indication the problem is physical. If a player tells you they’re suffering from dartitis, don’t respond with, “What’s the point?”

Just in time for drone fever, the Elliott Museum in Stuart, Florida, has unveiled its “UFO: Denial, Disclosure, and Discernment” exhibit which uses historical information, eyewitness accounts, pop culture references, and artificial intelligence to inform visitors about the decades of UFO sightings in the Stuart area, discuss government secrecy and consider the possibility of alien life; the exhibit was championed by Rob Steele, the CEO of the Elliott Museum, who has had a lifelong fascination with UFOs; the exhibit runs through August of 2025. Or until it is shut down by aliens, Men in Black, or cost-cutting government bureaucrats.

The year 2024 was a slow one for Loch Ness Monster sightings with the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register reporting just one surface photograph and two sonar images (one photo, one sound) taken by charter or exploration boats; there were also seven webcam sightings by people watching them at home, primarily top spotter Eoin O’Faodhagain; this is down from 10 on-site sightings in 2023 and Rob Long from the Loch Ness Exploration group thinks Nessie is “being put off from additional activity in the loch, such as people wanting to try cold water swimming” and “She is feeling shy, and it is no wonder with everyone recording her every move” but she is still there; boat captain Shaun Sloggie says the strange shape he saw on sonar on September 22nd in the Scottish Highlands was “the biggest thing I’ve ever seen” and still leaves him chilled and “speechless”. Unfortunately, the lack of sightings is leaving hotels and other tourism businesses chilled and profitless.

It’s not just drones in the sky that are acting strangely but also tractors on the ground according to farmers in Minnesota and Indiana who reported that their smart tractors “acted like they were demon possessed" around May 10, 2024; one in Minnesota said “the tractor danced a row to the left, to the right — and then the defoliator was off a row, so I had to loop around and start over. By nightfall, there was no controlling the Autosteer"’ according to another in Indiana, “the tractor would make a quick jolt left or right and I would have to manually reset"; the May 10 date is key to explaining what was happening – a strong aurora hit that night and because these intelligent tractors run 24-7 during planting and harvesting season and navigate the dark using precise GPS coordinates, they were “demon possessed” by the charged particles distorting radio signals from GPS satellites; NASA warns farmers that the Solar Maximum causing the increase in strong auroras could last through 2026. If your beans and asparagus look crooked, this may explain why.

From the “You have to squint real hard to see it” file comes a game camera photo from Dave Dial who sent it to the Rocky Mountain Sasquatch Organization with the explanation that it was taken on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, just north of Valdez, New Mexico, in the Carson National Forest, in October 2024 after he heard a howl “that was a cross between a coyote on steroids”; one day the camera took 22 photos and #22 is an image he describes as “a 6'+ mammal directly in front of the camera (looks symmetric), the lower lip just visible top center (?) and just below that a chin and chest” which he doesn’t think is a bear but can’t identify otherwise, nor can any of his friends. Even Bigfoot might have a hard time identifying which of his friends or relatives is in that photo.

Researchers from Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have been studying the length of Neanderthal ancestry segments in modern humans and found a pattern showing it became shorter with each generation due to DNA recombination between two parents which led them to conclude that Neanderthals and modern humans mated over multiple generations for roughly 7,000 years between 43,000 and 50,000 years ago and they now refer to this period as an "extended pulse"; they note in their study that "differences that we imagine between these groups to be very big are actually very small, genetically. We were far more similar than we were different". It sounds like these early humans would mate with any Neanderthal that had a pulse.

Before you surrender to AI as your benevolent overlord, consider its response to a request by the Daily Star to name the top five best people to represent us when aliens visit Earth: (1) Barack Obama because “his charisma and intellectual approach make him an ideal ambassador to communicate the collective aspirations of humanity”; (2) Greta Thunberg because “she represents the voice of youth and environmental activism worldwide, crucial issues in the fight for Earth’s future”; (3) Malala Yousafzai because “she is a symbol of resilience, advocating for girls' education and global equality” and “would show that humanity’s focus extends to education, empowerment, and the fundamental rights of individuals, especially women and girls”; (4) Elon Musk because “his vision of multi-planetary life, including the colonization of Mars, makes him a relevant figure to engage with extra-terrestrial beings” and his “understanding of both technology and the future of humanity’s exploration of space positions him as a key representative in discussions about Earth’s place in the universe”; (5) Nelson Mandela because his life “represents overcoming oppression, promoting peace, and uniting people from different backgrounds” and “his inclusive leadership would serve as a beacon for humanity’s potential to overcome conflicts and work together in harmony”. Everything was going OK until it picked Musk and a dead guy.

Christopher Langan, who calls himself the "smartest in the world" because his IQ is between 190 and 210, higher than Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking, says his Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU) theory which looks at reality as a "self-configuring, self-processing language", said on a podcast recently that death is a change in the "syntax" of existence and is similar to transitioning into another dimension, which many call the afterlife, where “you go back up toward the origin of reality. You can be provided with a substitute body, another kind of terminal body that allows you to keep on existing", an existence he compares to being in a supercomputer. Most people would probably accept such an existence as long as the supercomputer contains porn.

In an update to a recent story about a pastor taking four Flat Earthers and four Round Earthers on an expedition to Antarctica to settle the question on the roundness or flatness of the Earth, Pastor Will Duffy of Colorado says ‘The Final Experiment’ was indeed final for Flat Earth influencer Jeran Campanella and the other Flat Earthers who observed the Sun shining for a full 24 hours straight instead of rising and falling, proving that the planet is round and Antarctica is not an ice wall surrounding it; Campanella said, ”I honestly believed there was no 24-hour Sun. I honestly now believe there is" but Flat Earther Austin Whitsitt countered with a skeptical “I have seen a physical demonstration that could show this working, but I do think that some of the data we're going to have from this trip will help to clarify if that is what's actually happening". Sounds like someone is pushing for a free trip to space on another ‘This Time It's Really the Final Experiment’.

From the ‘Some things don’t need AI’ file comes a new study published in the journal PNAS describing the development of a new “VR lollipop” that will let the user taste up to nine different flavors in virtual reality; the simulator uses small gel packs filled with chemicals that mix saliva when zapped with an electrical charge to create the lollipop’s taste; smells are incorporated to make the experience even more realistic; currently, the VR lollipop can simulate the tastes of sugar, salt, citric acid, cherry, passion fruit, green tea, durian, milk, and grapefruit. If you have a taste for a lollipop with the flavor of salt, you just might be the ‘Dum-Dum’ the suckers are named after.

Residents of Naples, Italy, aren’t worried about Mount Vesuvius erupting, drone invasions or any other disasters for at least a few months after the alleged blood of Saint Januarius, on display in a reliquary in Naples Cathedral, liquefied on December 16, protecting the city until the first Sunday in May, the next day it traditionally liquefies (the third date is September 19, the feast of Saint Januarius); the tradition dates back to 1389 and the church has a list of wars and disasters which occurred when the blood didn’t liquefy, but the Catholic Church, despite an alleged liquefication in the presence of liquefied in the presence of Pope Pius IX in 1848, does not recognize it as a miracle, especially after it didn’t happen for John Paul II in 1979 or Benedict XVI in 2007; there are many ways to simulate this liquefication, but that doesn’t deter the faithful. Just in case, can Pope Francis arrange for the reliquary to be flown over New Jersey?