Dracula's Italian Gravesite, Bigfoot Wedding, Snorting Moon Dust, British Werewolves and More Mysterious News Briefly

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

No less of a mainstream media source than The New York Times has weighed in on the latest popular theory that UFOs are either deliberate “deep state” psychological operations aimed at covering up top secret technologies, bureaucratic pranks that made some personnel into UFO believers, top secret experiments that the government allowed its own personnel to interpret as possible close encounters, or similar deceits from the Russian version of our own UFO disinformation; opinion columnist Russ Douthat writes that default psy-op coverup does not explain every weird U.F.O.-related phenomena, and concludes with the obvious question: “If many stories of insider U.F.O. knowledge originate in deliberate disinformation projects and we have been living through a veritable golden age of strange leaks and tales of insider knowledge, then what, exactly, might this era’s particular psy-op be intended to conceal?” That’s nice, but if The New York Times can’t give us all the news that’s fit to print about UFOs, how about digging up some of the stuff that’s NOT fit to print?

A famous image from 2016 shows an unidentified metallic orb recorded flying over Mosul, Iraq, in April 2016 by an MC-12 twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft; the image was published by investigative reporter George Knapp and documentary filmmaker Jeremy Corbell in 2023 and now The UAP Register, in response to a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in March 2024, has received and published a video of the same sphere, referred to as the ‘Mosul Orb’; the publication notes that the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) confirms these metallic orbs are the most widespread types of UAP reported by servicemembers and show no visible means of propulsion; the metallic orb UFOs have been reported by military witnesses since at least 1944 but the AARO has no comment on the video as of this writing and The UAP Register has filed another Freedom of Information Act request for more information. Would it be too much to ask for the makers of actual balloons to put identification marks on them so they don’t get confused with UFOs – or is that the idea?

UFO researcher and lawyer Danny Sheehan is someone who believes the Pentagon and the CIA have worked together since the Roswell incident of 1947 to cover-up the "truth" about aliens and he now suggests that the war in Vietnam was fought to prevent other nations or entities from obtaining alien technology that could give them a military edge; he further suggests that chemical engineer and whistleblower Karen Silkwood, who was investigating her employer, the Kerr-McGee Corporation, over health and safety at the nuclear facility where she worked when she mysteriously died in a car accident, was an example of the actions the US government will take to silence whistleblowers in UFO cases. If you don’t believe these threats are real, you haven’t been reading the news.

If you are wondering what the government could be covering up, US Congressman Eric Burlison revealed on social media that whistleblower and former intelligence officer David Grusch told him that “there are half-breed aliens — hybrids — living in the world” and that President Donald Trump was given a “sensitive” briefing about their existence which “was an existential event that completely changed his (Trump’s) perspective on reality; Burlison also said that Grusch identified two types of aliens – the “Nordics” who resemble humans and have a technological level a few hundred years more advanced, and the “Grays” who are much more developed and capable of operating their ships with their minds; he says Grusch told him the Nordics were developing hybrids and “Some of them are alien-human hybrids living on this planet” but he wouldn’t say if the hybrids were aware of their origin. Trump does not appear to be the kind of person who keeps secrets well, so his inclusion in the story casts a shadow on the rest of Grusch’s revelations.

The Bigfoot Field Research Organization shares the report from an unnamed witness who was driving from Deadwood to Rapid City, South Dakota, at around 10 p.m. recently when she saw “a large animal was on two feet, easily clearing the top of my vehicle (greater than 6.5ft.)” while looking out her passenger side window; she said “It came up out of nowhere” so it must have hopped over guard rails; she described the creature as being “Very dark brown, more red in undertone than gray so could not be mistaken as a large elk or deer”; it was too dark to see where it went and she didn’t go back to investigate; BFRO noted that the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks releases mountain goats around this time each year ahead of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to give tourists a chance at seeing a mountain goat and that could explain the creature, but the nearby Black Hills National Forest has had many Bigfoot sightings and “is perfect for hosting a resident population of sasquatches”. What kind of biker would rather see a mountain goat than a Sasquatch?

Paranormal researcher Philip Kinsella claims he and his twin brother, Ronald, and fellow investigator Paul Sinclair were in a densely wooded nature reserve called Danes Dyke in Bridlington, England, when he saw and managed to photograph an 8-foot tall, shadowy, bipedal figure that many who look at the picture believe is a werewolf; Philips doesn’t rule it out, saying “The figure's huge “ and something is “not right” about it, but “We're not saying it's a werewolf. We're saying something is there”; when it appeared, “This figure manifested like a ghost, but with physical presence. I don't know what it is but I know it's weird”, which fits with his paranormalist’s description of Danes Dyke – “'a strange area... There's just something weird about it” and he wouldn't want to visit it after dark; the one thing most people notice is a strange glow around the being’s head. A costume is easy to rent, but the height and that glowing head make one wonder what kind of steroidal magic mushrooms this werewolf might be eating.

From the “You can do a study on anything “ file comes a study on what would happen if a person snorted Moon dust – whether it be in a lab at NASA or through a lunar straw on the Moon’s surface; Michaela Smith, a graduate student (go figure) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and lead author of the study, was inspired by stories of the Apollo moon walkers who found that when they re-entered their landing module, “fine dust that had clung to their spacesuits became airborne in the confined cabin and was subsequently inhaled, leading to respiratory issues, sneezing, and eye irritation”; the researchers on her team used state-of-the-art simulations of lunar dust and found that it is indeed irritating to the nose and lungs, but will not put any future lunar astronauts at risk of long-term oxidative stress or inflammation; further, “it does not appear to pose a risk for chronic, long-term diseases like silicosis, which is caused by materials like silica dust"; for the curious astronauts who might be looking for a lunar high, the study warns them that “you'll sneeze, cough, and have some physical irritation" and wonders why they would even consider it. Spoken like someone too young to have listened to Eric Clapton.

Instead of snorting moon dust (see above), lunar astronauts may be getting their buzz from drinking Moon tea after University of Kent researcher Anna-Marie Wirth planted tea plant seedlings provided by Dartmoor Estate Tea in soil similar to lunar and Martian dirt in simulated outer space conditions; the soil is not as fertile as on Earth and the conditions are harsher, but the plants are growing and a lunar cuppa could be ready for astronaut taste-testing soon. Coffee lovers may want to put lunar dust in hot water and pretend it’s just really strong.

In a recent podcast, Dr. Gregory Rogers, former Chief of Aerospace Medicine at NASA, claimed he once saw a video of a hangar and “what was in the middle of the hanger was an actual flying saucer” and an unnamed major told him “we got it from them”; as he watched, the vehicle, which “was sort of a modified egg” in shape, began to move without an visible means of propulsion and “it lifted off just like a feather. It rose about three feet in the air and then just hung there”; then it at it rotated 360 degrees clockwise so he could see writing on its side that said “U.S. Air Force” and an American flight insignia above it; Rogers said it was in 1992 and “only three years after Bob Lazar had come out with his information about reverse engineering spacecraft from non-human intelligence” and he thought the flying saucer resembled “what Bob Lazar called his “sports model”; he also said it could have been an early version of what he (and the rest of us) saw in “the tic-tac video” but he believes this vehicle was not reverse engineered but “was probably owned by a contractor” who was demonstrating it for the Air Force. How many hangars have to be stormed before this gets found?

Jessica Ortiz of Compton, California, was looking at her doorbell camera footage on June 6, 2025, when she saw what appeared her as a 3 to 4 foot tall blue-grey alien-like creature walking past the camera; the audio reveals some loud banging noises which she says are from her back gate, but motion-sensor cameras in that area were not triggered; she says her aunt lives next door and she claims she heard 3 loud bangs on the roof of her house at 12:45 am and scratching sounds after the second bang; while the figure looks like a classic alien, doubters say it could be a puppet or a small person in disguise or an animal which is unidentifiable in the low light; they have no explanation for why only the front camera caught but not the back one. Are we ready to give up our security to install cameras everywhere and finally get a clear picture of an alien, Bigfoot or a ghost?

Many things which were once part of the U.S. government are now being turned over to the states, but not UFO research – at least, that’s the case in New Hampshire, where a bill (HB 436) filed by Rep. Aidan Ankarberg to set up a state commission to review testimonies and reports from witnesses of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) within the “skies and territory” of New Hampshire did not pass; it was supported by Rep. John Cloutier, who said that “Long ago, I had a questionable sighting that with physics, I cannot explain” and "Now we have citizens, be it one or a thousand, who have come before us with things in the sky”, not to mention “mystery drones flying around but “there’s no one right now who can take testimony or evidence, whatever it may be”; on the opposing side was Rep. Michael Harrington, who said, “Just because someone comes up with an idea doesn’t mean we should even be considering it as a bill”. Rep. Harrington, did you know that New Hampshire has laws banning carrying seaweed at night, tapping your feet in a tavern, and eating more than three sandwiches at a wake?

A new article released by former Intelligence Officer Geoffrey P. Cruickshank, Caren Gallaudet and retired Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet alleges that a UFO was shot down during the Bluegill Triple Prime nuclear weapons test on  October 26th, 1962, and the USS Princeton and other ships were ordered by the Pacific Fleet Salvage Officer, Commander Willard F. Searle, to recover the object; the article claims crewmembers of the USS Abnaki and USS Tuscumbia received excessive radiation exposures far beyond levels for their official assigned duties; further, they claim “the event may have caused severe psychosocial injury to one of the divers involved that had negative effects for the rest of his life.; the authors call for an AARO investigation, saying they will “provide the name, rank and serial numbers of US Navy personnel (now deceased) that may have had direct involvement in this incident to properly credentialed and cleared investigators if required”; a Royal Navy diver who claimed to have located and activated the wreckage said he couldn’t believe the size of “this thing” and “he said that he put his hand out - he put his hand out to touch it and his hand went inside of it! As soon as his hand went inside of it, he thought that it was going to suck him in”. Don’t get distracted by trying to link this to the 1963 Kennedy assassination – focus on finding the records that these whistleblowers claim exist.

Many people say they love Bigfoot or would love seeing a Bigfoot, but Christy Chaffin and Ron Howes are not only both, they expressed their love of the big hairy one by getting married in his own backyard at this year’s West Virginia Bigfoot Festival in Sutton; Christy is a resin artist who focuses on cryptids and Ron is a Bigfoot speaker and they met each other at a Bigfoot event, got engaged at a Bigfoot event, and finally got married at a Bigfoot festival; Christy said, “It’s a community, and getting married at a Bigfoot festival, it was what we wanted to do because we’re a part of the community”; the ceremony was officiated by Bigfoot himself - a costumed impersonator who officiates weddings in the Morgantown area. Who handles the divorces – Mothman?

The gravesite of Vlad III, best known as Vlad the Impaler, has been a mystery since his death in either late December 1476 or early January 1477 – and not just because people fear the inspiration for Count Dracula rising from the ground as a vampire; while most accounts and legends say Vlad died in battle against the Ottomans, but researcher and Professor Giuseppe Reale, the director of the Santa Maria la Nova monumental complex, has spent 10 years studying a mysterious inscription on a tombstone in the historic center of Naples, Italy, and now believes it is an epitaph in praise of Vlad III and confirms that the remains of Vlad the Impaler are located in the monastery complex of Santa Maria la Nova in the ancient heart of the city; according to Reale, Vlad III was not killed in battle against the Ottomans but was instead captured by them and later freed by his daughter, Maria Balsa, who had been adopted by a noble family in Naples to escape persecution; after Vlad III's death, it appears she buried him in the tomb of her father-in-law, Matteo Ferrillo, inside the Turbolo chapel at Santa Maria la Nova. How could Vlad Dracula have survived in Italy, home of garlic-laden pizza and spaghetti sauce?  

From the “’Don’t believe everything you read on a note from a ghost’ file comes a story from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where Jason Cooper, an employee of the Grand Strand Visuals sign company, was working in the attic of the Build-A-Bear Workshop at Broadway at the Beach on the wiring of its malfunctioning sign when he discovered a pair of old boots nailed to a beam and a note reading: “These here boots were worn by the famous truss man of ‘Broadway at the Beach,’ Dave English, his ghost will roam until they are returned” and dated February 24, 1995; Cooper assumed English was a construction worker who died and was memorialized by his co-workers building the Build-a-Bear workshop; even scarier, he assumed the ghost of English might be haunting the attic and posted his fear on social media; sure enough, the ghost DID contact him – but it was the still-living David English, who admitted the boots were a prank he pulled in 1995 with a friend who signed the note ‘Dave’ English – a sign that it wasn’t the real English who always, and still does, went by David. Sounds like an opportunity for Build-a-Bear to expand into Build-a-Haunted-Boot.