Journal of the Bizarre

Video footage of mysterious floating boxes of tea at a tea shop in England has gone viral, thanks to an article which appeared in the UK's Daily Mail.

According to the Daily Mail, closed circuit cameras have captured boxes of teabags floating down the aisles of the corner shop in Whitstable.  The shop, which sells a variety of natural products, is owned and operated by Michelle Newbold.  Ms. Newbold states:

"I was perplexed I suppose.  I just couldn't believe it.  I have no idea how it happened.  It is just a complete mystery." 

Paranormal activity, or mere publicity stunt?

It doesn't take a paranormal investigator with thousands of dollars of fancy equipment to see that this appears to be nothing more than a hoax.  For starters, the video footage (which appears on YouTube as well as on the Daily Mail website), does not appear to have been captured on a CCTV camera at all, but a cellphone.  Nearly all CCTV camera are mounted in place, yet in the early seconds of…

Millions of people believe that the lines of one's palm determine everything from a person's wealth and marital bliss to even one's lifespan.  But what if your palm reveals nothing but disaster and heartbreak?  Luckily, there's now surgery to correct that problem.

Dr. Takaaki Matsuoka is the man behind palmistry plastic surgery, in which an electric scalpel is used to alter the lines of the palm.  By extending the love line and money line on one's palm, proponents of palmistry surgery believe that better luck will follow.

According to a recent story published by YourJewishNews, the surgical procedure, which takes between 10 and 15 minutes to complete, costs in the neighborhood of $1,100.  According to Dr. Matsuoka, the wounds on the palm take about a month to heal.

Already, recipients of palmistry surgery are reporting terrific returns for their investment.  One woman with a history of bad luck in love reportedly married shortly after her surgery.  Two others allege…

Not all of our article are the result of planning; sometimes we stumble across a great story completely by chance, such as this strange story about a "man baby" from Kansas.  While researching background information for an unrelated story, we came across this rather odd article which appeared in the August 3, 1889, edition of the St. Martinville Weekly Messenger:

There has just been discovered in the south part of this (Dickinson) county, writes a Kansas correspondent of the Globe-Democrat, one of the most remarkable monstrosities of the human family ever known to exist in this section.  It is a child-man, or rather a child's body with a man's head.

A few days ago a prominent physician was making a call on the family in which the monstrosity lives, and while talking with his patient he noticed an object in a cradle at the opposite end of the room.  It was carefully covered up, but he thought he perceived a beard showing from beneath the covering.  He could get no oppo…

The much-anticipated book by our good friend from the UK, paranormal and cryptozoological researcher Lee Brickley, is finally available to the public and promises to be one heck of a read for anyone interested in weird things that go bump in the night (and sometimes even during the day).

UFO's Werewolves & The Pig-Man: Exposing England's Strangest Location is a 141-page book devoted to one of the spookiest places on Earth, the eerily beautiful woodlands of Cannock Chase.  While the government of the United Kingdom has designated Cannock Chase an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the verdant forests and scenic heathlands are said to be home to some of the most spectacular monstrosities the mind of man can conjure: werewolves, hellhounds, wildcats, giant reptiles, Bigfoot... and even a Pig Man.  In other words, if Mother Nature was a mad scientist, Cannock Chase would be her laboratory.



As Brickley points out in his book, Cannock Chase is known for much more than mysteriou…

Historical newspapers provide numerous accounts of sightings of strange creatures of the land, sky, and sea-- some more reliable than others.  The following article, which appeared in the Nov. 23, 1901 edition of the Akron Daily Democrat, is worth mentioning because (to the best of our knowledge) it was the first, last, and only time that a sighting of a sea serpent was officially verified by the U.S. government. 

Washington, Nov. 23.-- Our old tried and true friend, the sea serpent, has bobbed up again.  There can be no shadow of doubt of his existence now for Uncle Sam himself stands sponsor for him.  In an official report backed by all the official proofs in the way of signatures that can be asked for, the Hydrographic Bureau described his snakeship.  The following is the report made by Henry H. Neligan, third officer of the steamship Irade, regular observer for the bureau, dated Oct. 26:

"At 11 a.m. today in latitude 27 degrees, 26 minutes north and longitude 90 degrees 18 mi…

Haven't you ever longed for the good old days when you could settle your differences by challenging someone to a duel?  While many of us have longed to "demand satisfaction" from an offending party, few of us are probably aware of the proper etiquette involved in a duel.  A duel is not a primitive and macho expression of anger, but a highly-choreographed waltz between two gentlemen.  In 1833, former governor of South Carolina John Lyde Wilson published a 22-page booklet on the fine art of the duel.  While space prevents us from describing every rule pertaining to this lost art, here is a brief guide to proper dueling etiquette (based on Wilson's rules), should you ever find yourself in a situation which "demands satisfaction".

1. Unlike in the movies, a duel is never requested in the presence of the offending party.  The offended party is supposed to return home and enlist the aid of a close personal friend to act as a second.  The second is required to mak…

In 1888, grave diggers in Augusta, Georgia exhumed a corpse which had been buried just four years earlier.  Much to their surprise, the deceased had become inexplicably petrified.  Here's one newspaper account of the bizarre transformation:

A most singular discovery has been made in the Augusta, Georgia cemetery.  In accordance with instructions received from members of the family, the remains of S.O. Gillette were exhumed by Cemetery Superintendent Bryan and interred in a different section.  When the grave diggers had uncovered the coffin and went to remove it from the grave it was found that two men could not budge it.

Usually after a body has lain in the ground for several years it becomes very light, but it took six men to lift this one from the grave.  The singular fact induced Superintendent Bryan to investigate into the cause, and it was found that the body was completely petrified, and was as hard and solid and heavy as a rock.  It was in a wooden coffin, and the top had de…