Journal of the Bizarre

According to animal welfare experts in the UK, a growing number of captive primates are experiencing weight problems as a result of poor diet and lack of exercise.  In an article published Wednesday in the Telegraph, there are approximately 5,000 monkeys kept as pets in the UK and animal sanctuaries are struggling to meet the demand for caring for the throngs of couch potato primates.

"They are fed on things like sweets, pizza, chips and cake - whatever their owner is eating. And many don’t have enclosures large enough to run it all off," explained Jean Smith, of the Yorkshire Monkey Sanctuary.



(read the full article here)

Last week, it was revealed that the stomach pains plaguing an elderly woman from Colombia were the result of a 40-year-old calcified fetus. 

The woman, 82, entered Tunjuelito Hospital in Bogota with stomach pains, which the medical staff initially presumed to be gastroenteritis.  Further tests revealed that the woman was carrying a lithopedion, or a "stone baby"- a dead, calcified fetus which is the result of an ectopic pregnancy in which the fetus is formed in the abdomen outside of the uterus.

This rare occurrence, first documented in France on 1582, occurs in less than 2% of all abdominal pregnancies which, in turn, account for only one out of 11,000 overall pregnancies.  To date, only 300 lithopedic pregnancies have been recorded in medical literature.

Lithopedions are formed when a fetus outside the uterus dies and the mother's body calcifies the fetus in order to protect the rest of the body from infection.

According to the New York Daily News, the unnamed woman is s…

In 1873, a giant strange-looking horned animal which howled ferociously was spotted in the mountains of Caswell County, North Carolina.  This is the story, which describes a creature perhaps better suited for a Maurice Sendak children's book than for North America, as featured in the March 12, 1873 edition of the Fairfield (S.C.) Herald:


A gentleman recently from the Shelton, Laurel district of North Carolina, some forty miles from this place, informs us that the people in that "densely thicketed" county are greatly excited in regard to the appearance, upon several different places, of a huge mountain monster, the species of which is unknown.  Mr. George Anderson, one of the gentlemen residing in the Laurel country, being one of the persons who saw the monster, also furnishes us with the following description of it.

"I was out in the jungle hunting up some lost hogs, when all of a sudden there came into my path a beast, the appearance of which, I must confess, caused…

Situated largely in southeastern Virginia, separating the cities of Suffolk and Norfolk, the Great Dismal Swamp has inspired countless legends and spooky stories for literally thousands of years.  The area was home to the Nansemond and Chesepiooc tribes, who told stories of a terrifying monster they called the Fire Bird- a prehistoric-looking beast with an enormous wingspan, razor-sharp teeth, and claws strong enough to carry away humans.

According to archaeologists, the swamp has been inhabited by humans for about 13,000 years and virtually every group of people who have called the Great Dismal Swamp home have told stories of mystery monsters and terrifying creatures said to inhabit its waters, bogs, and woods.



By the 19th century, the swamp was home to hundreds of fugitive slaves, which inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe's second novel Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp.  These slaves inhabited the high and dry areas of the swamp, and around countless campfires these "Grea…

In 1908, a grandmother suddenly dropped dead after seeing the ghost of her grandson... whom she didn't know had died just hours before.  This spooky story was featured in newspapers all over the country; the following is an account of the strange incident as it appeared in the December 3, 1908 edition of the Daily Pioneer (Bemidji, MN).


New York, Dec. 2.-- The death of Mrs. Margaret Smith while she was visiting friends in this city has all the uncanny surroundings of a real ghost story.  Friends believe that she expired after seeing an apparition, for a moment before she fell to the floor the woman raised her eyes to the ceiling and exclaimed: "Why, Frank, where did you come from?"

Only a few hours previous Mrs. Smith's favorite grandson, Frank Kane, had died at his residence in West Sixteenth street, but Mrs. Smith had not been advised of it.

Physicians who examined the body pronounced her death as due to heart failure, but those who witnessed the dramatic scene think…

On Monday, the most detailed account yet of the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary that left 20 first-graders and six school employees dead was released by State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky, amid an outcry by Newtown parents to keep quiet about the incident, which many conspiracy theorists are hailing as the greatest cover-up since the JFK assassination.

The 48-page report, which includes 78 photographs of the school and the Lanza home, fails to provide a reason for Adam Lanza's actions or his decision to target the school.  Not surprisingly, nearly one year after the massacre, authorities refuse to provide any photographic evidence which shows Lanza entering the school, such as an image captured by the school's surveillance cameras.



Laughably, the 48-page "official report" provides the public with very little in the way of useful information.  Instead, the report contains such trivial "facts" as:

-Adam once forced his mother, Nancy, to get …

For over a century, residents of Flaherty, Indiana, have been spooked by a headless apparition, known to locals as "Columbus Cole".  Cole, a railroad employee, was killed in a boiler explosion in 1903 and, not long afterward, strange things began happening in the vicinity of the railway station near Laporte.  Here is the first known published account of the headless ghost of Columbus Cole, as it appeared in the August 16, 1905 edition of the Barbour County (Kansas) Index.







Town Haunted By Headless Ghost

Laporte, Ind.-- Ranked among the impossible spirit stories of tradition and of poetry is the one that keeps the residents in the vicinity of Flaherty in constant fear and trembling.  They are not afraid during the day time, but their voices are lowered in a singular manner when they approach the little railroad station where the history of the ghost of Columbus Cole is being made.

Nightly, after the sun sets, Flaherty station is avoided, because there is no question about the po…

On Wednesday, the world lost perhaps its best-known psychic when Sylvia Browne passed away in a hospital in San Jose, California.  She was 77.

A fixture on television talk shows for decades, Browne has appeared as a guest on shows hosted by Larry King, Dr. Drew Pinski, and Montel Williams- whose talk show she appeared on as a weekly guest for seventeen years.

In 1974 she established The Nirvana Foundation for Psychic Research, and went on to publish more than 50 books, 22 of which made it to the New York Times Best Sellers list.


More details on the passing of Sylvia Browne can be read here. 

With demolition of Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School set to begin shortly, it appears that local officials are once again trying their hardest to conceal as much information as possible about the December 14, 2012 massacre in which Adam Lanza allegedly killed twenty children and six adults- this time by forcing demotion workers to sign a confidentiality agreement swearing them to secrecy.

On October 15, the Associated Press reported that contractors demolishing Sandy Hook Elementary School are being required to sign confidentiality agreements forbidding public discussion of the site, photographs or disclosure of any information about the school.   “We don’t really want those who are there somehow releasing information or recounting impressions of the site, given we are trying to move on, so to speak," stated Selectman Will Rodgers in a recent interview.

Demolition of Sandy Hook Elementary is set to begin next week.  A new school is expected to open by December of 2016, …

Oxford University geneticist Bryan Sykes claims that he has finally laid to rest the mystery of the Yeti- by unraveling the mystery creature's DNA.  The Yeti- an apelike creature which has been rumored for centuries to lurk in the Himalayas- is also famously known as the Abominable Snowman.  Sykes, a genetics professor at Oxford, sequenced DNA samples taken from two unidentified animals killed in the Himalayas of India and Bhutan in recent decades, and claims that the Yeti is nothing more than an unknown species of bear.

According to Sykes, the DNA seems to imply that the Abominable Snowman is a hybrid, closely related to the polar bear and the brown bear.

"This is a species that hasn't been recorded for 40,000 years. Now, we know one of these was walking around ten years ago. And what's interesting is that we have found this type of animal at both ends of the Himalayas. If one were to go back, there would be others still there," stated the geneticist.



(read more o…

From the chupacabra to the Loch Ness Monster, mystery creatures continue to capture the imaginations of millions of people around the world.  Some mysterious creatures, however, seem to have faded from our collective memory.  A strange nine-legged fish caught in Nevada in 1905 is one such creature.  What makes this creature even more remarkable is the fact that the fish was captured by a party of respected officials, including a state comptroller, an attorney general and a game warden.

From the August 11, 1905, edition of the Hartford Republican:

State Comptroller Sam Davis, warden John Considine, Attorney-General James Sweeney and Louis Beaver, all of Carson, have landed one of the queerest freaks in the fish line ever seen in Nevada.  It is neither fish nor animal, yet closely resembles both.  It was caught in the Carson River, close to the Holstins ranch, by Mr. Davis.

It measures about 18 inches in length and has nine legs.  It has a head, fin, gills, and scales of the fish, but th…

In late September, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh raised eyebrows when he declared that the 2011 SEAL Team Six raid which killed Osama Bin Laden was “one big lie” and that “not one word” of the official narrative on what happened is true.

In Hersh's interview, which appeared in The Guardian, the journalist lashes out at American media for blindly accepting, and failing to raise questions, about the Obama administration's narrative about the raid which allegedly killed Bin Laden.   For example, the White House initially claimed that situation room photos showed President Obama watching the raid live-- even though there happened to be a blackout on the live feed.  In addition, residents who lived next to the compound have stated that they had never seen Bin Laden, adding that there was no evidence suggesting that he had ever lived there.

Unfortunately, Hersh missed a golden opportunity in his interview to drive home his point.  Although he stated that "Nothi…

Trevor Marriott, a former homicide detective from the UK, believes that he has solved one of the world's greatest mysteries since Victorian times- the identity of Jack the Ripper.

Marriott, formerly of the Bedforshire police department, has devoted years of his life studying Jack the Ripper, performing a detailed case-by-case review of the evidence.  Evidence, which Marriott contends, has been tainted by exaggeration.

“The facts of this case have been totally distorted over the years,” said Marriott in a newspaper story published over the weekend. “The general public have been completely misled by any number of authors and publishers."

According to Marriott, numerous murders of the era which were similar in nature were attributed to Jack the Ripper, in spite of flimsy evidence.  Thanks to the former detective's professional credentials, he has been able to obtain access to documents which are unavailable to the general public.  Based on his findings, Marriott believes many …

If recent history has taught us anything, it's that mass casualty events are almost immediately followed by talk of conspiracy, or allegations of "false flag" fakery.  So, let's get the ball rolling and point out some weird similarities between Aaron Alexis and Adam Lanza.


1. Both shooters were reported to have used someone else's ID to gain access to the scene of the crime.  According to authorities, Adam Lanza was found with his brother Ryan's driver's license at Sandy Hook, and it is now being reported by several media outlets that Alexis was carrying an ID card belonging to Rollie Chance, who was on administrative leave.


2. Both shooters carried a similar arsenal of weapons.  An AR-15 assault rifle, a handgun, and a shotgun were found on Washington Navy Yard shooting suspect Aaron Alexis, according to The Epoch Times.  Lanza also brought an AR-15 assault rifle, a handgun, and a shotgun to Sandy Hook (the shotgun was found in the trunk of Lanza's ca…

 McVeigh and Nichols Didn't Act Alone, Claims Attorney



In what is shaping up to be one of the largest cover-ups in history, a U.S. District Judge has given a Salt Lake City attorney a green light to proceed in his quest to prove that the FBI is either hiding, or has destroyed, surveillance video associated with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing-- video which may prove that Timothy McVeigh wasn't alone when he parked a truckload of explosives at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups denied the government's motion to dismiss the case and ordered both sides to prepare for a bench trial. A status hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 21, at which time a trial date will be set.  At this hearing, Waddoups will decide whether the FBI adequately responded a Freedom of Information Act request for footage of Timothy McVeigh parking a Ryder truck at the Murrah Federal Building.  The request was filed by Jesse Trentadue, a Sal…

On Thursday, an attorney for Connecticut's Freedom of Information Commission announced that Newtown officials violated state law when they refused to release recordings of 911 calls made during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Kathleen K. Ross, a hearing officer with the commission, ruled in a preliminary report that the Newtown police and state prosecutors failed to offer sufficient evidence supporting their contention that the tapes were exempt from release.  The 911 tapes, along with records pertaining to police activity at the Lanza home were requested the by the Associated Press on the day of the shooting.  After Newtown officials refused to release these records, the AP appealed to the Freedom of Information Commission, who found that Newtown officials broke the law.

In an eight-page report, Ross rejected all of the arguments that Newtown officials and state prosecutor Stephen Sedensky had put forth during a hearing in June, such as the claim that the records were c…

From "hanging chads" to Casey Anthony to Terry Shiavo to Stand Your Ground, the state of Florida has always managed to keep itself in the national headlines.  This is the state, after all, where a naked homeless man ate the face off of another naked homeless man in 2012, and where giant sinkholes open up and eat people alive (much like a naked homeless man hopped up on bath salts).  But if you think our most phallic-shaped state has only recently become the Insanity Capital of America, think again!

Perhaps the most unusual event in Florida's history took place in 1898, when citizens of the Sunshine State voted to repeal Article 3, Section 34, of the state constitution.  The only problem?  Article 3, Section 34 didn't exist.

This little detail somehow eluded millions of voters and election officials throughout Florida, and was only noticed when an observant judge, C.E. Harrison, counted the returns from Hillsborough County.  On November 19, 1898, the Chipley Banner r…

In 1897, a young man was executed by the state of Georgia for the crime of murder.  Terrell Hudson, the condemned, blamed his fate on the unluckiest of numbers, the number thirteen.  After his death, Hudson became something of a national celebrity, having earned the label of "The Thirteen Murderer":

Decatur, Ia., June 30. - Terrell Hudson, the famous "13" murderer, was hanged at 11:46 o'clock this morning. He was declared dead in 14 minutes. An immense crowd of howling negroes surrounded the jail while the execution was taking place.

Hudson's crime was the murder of Seaborn Malcolm in DeKalb County, November 13, 1896. The two were field laborers, and quarreled over a dog. Thirteen figured in the case to such a remarkable degree that Hudson was known at the "13" murderer.

He was the 13th child of a 13th child, and born on the 13th of the month. There were 13 letters in his name. He killed 13 rabbits on the day of the murder. He was a…

We've received numerous emails about our recent examination of the Virginia trail cam "Bigfoot", in which we speculated that the shaggy creature captured on video may be the (supposedly) long-extinct ground sloth.  Feedback to our theory has run the gamut from supportive to downright hostile (who knew that folks were so passionate about unidentified hairy objects?).  Evidently, this mystery creature from Virginia has aroused the passions and imaginations of many, ourselves included.  As a result, we feel compelled to expound on our theory that the ground sloth is alive and well, and lurking in the forests of North America.

Let's turn our attention to sightings of the supposedly extinct ground sloth and other compelling evidence which supports our theory that this creature still roams the wilds.

1886: Argentine explorer Ramon Lista, who would later become governor of Santa Cruz, claimed to have seen a ground sloth during a Patagonian expedition.

1897: Dr. F.P Moreno of…

JOTB Analyzes Virginia Trail Cam Bigfoot



Every once in a while, even we are confounded and bewildered by the results of one of our own investigations.  Our analysis of the shaggy cryptid caught on a trail cam in Virginia is one such example.  The image of this mysterious creature, recently released by Roger William, has been creating quite a buzz around the Bigfoot and cryptozoology community in recent days, stumping even the most experienced cryptozoologists, and we believe that we may have solved the mystery of this creature's identity.

On August 27, the Bigfoot Evidence blog sought the opinion of Bizarre Zoology's Jay Cooney, who surmised:

"While the animal's stretched forelimb and apparent long hair made me wonder if this could be an actual wood ape, other features of its anatomy make it clear what its identity truly is. Its hind limbs/hind quarters make it obvious that this is a habitual quadruped, as they lack the hallmarks of biped anatomy such as calves and pr…

Dr. Michael Zuk, the dentist who purchased John Lennon's molar at a 2011 auction for $31,000, stated recently that he wants to have the decaying tooth genetically sequenced, in the hopes that John Lennon can one day be cloned.

According to NBC News, Dr. Zuk has sent out a press release detailing his plans for Lennon's DNA.  In his press release, Zuk states:

"I am nervous and excited at the possibility that we will be able to fully sequence John Lennon's DNA, very soon I hope.  With researchers working on ways to clone mammoths, the same technology certainly could make human cloning a reality."

One of the top news stories this past week has been the declassification of CIA documents which acknowledge the existence of Area 51.  According to Fox News, George Washington University's National Security Archive managed to obtain a CIA history of the U-2 spy plane program through a freedom of information request and released it late last week.  These documents differed from similar documents requested in 2002, in which all references to Area 51 had been erased.

National Security Archive senior fellow Jeffrey Richelson, who has been studying Area 51 for over a decade, told the Las Vegas Sun that this "marks an end of official secrecy about the facts of Area 51," adding, “It opens up the possibility that future accounts of this and other aerial projects will be less redacted, more fully explained in terms of their presence in Area 51.”

With all due respect to Mr. Richelson, these newly-released CIA documents, while interesting, should not under any circumstances be regar…

Ever since a team of Uruguayan scientists produced a glow-in-the-dark sheep earlier this year, scientists around the world have been injecting fluorescent jellyfish proteins into virtually every critter that walks, swims, barks, or quacks.  Earlier this week, researchers announced that they have successfully created cloned glow-in-the-dark rabbits.

The latest researchers involved in producing glowing animals are from the University of Hawaii's Institute for Biogenesis Research, and have produced a litter of eight rabbits, two of which glow bright green in the dark.  Dr. Stefan Moisyadi, a biogenesis researcher from Hawaii's Institute for Biogenesis Research, claims that the rabbits are not affected by the fluorescent protein and will have the same life expectancy and regular non-glowing rabbits.  "And on top of it, their fur is beginning to grow and the greenness is shining right through their fur. It’s so intense,” added Dr. Moisyadi.

According to the scientists invo…