Scientific papers that centered around potential ET life out in space, a pair of intriguing videos of possible paranormal activity, and a Dutch man who wants to legally shave 20 years off of his age were among the strange and unusual stories that got our attention this past week.
Although ghost stories and Bigfoot encounters are undoubtedly strange, they sometimes pale in comparison to the weirdness displayed by everyday people as evidenced by this week's story of a Dutch man who wants to legally change his birth date so that he is 20 years younger. Emile Ratelband told the court that, were he 49 instead of 69, he would be able to get more work and, perhaps revealing his true motive, have greater success finding dates on Tinder.
The possibility that there are intelligent extraterrestrials residing somewhere in the universe was the focus of two mainstream science papers that made news this week. First, astronomers at Harvard argued that the mysterious interstellar object known as 'Oumuamua' could, in fact, be an ET solar sail. This intriguing suggestion was followed by a research project from an MIT scientist who proposed producing a proverbial 'porch light' for Earth in the form of a massive laser that could easily be detected by aliens who may be scanning our galactic neighborhood looking for life.
The paranormal and pop culture collided in hilarious fashion over in England when a dispute over a haunted doll found its way onto a daytime TV court show. The central issue being contested was a man's claim that he never received the full payment for his sale of a purportedly haunted doll. What followed was a wildly amusing showdown presided over by a judge who seemingly had a hard time believing what he was hearing, especially when the defendant told him that he didn't pay the full price for the possessed figuring after the spirit attached to it told him that he didn't need to honor the deal.
A pair of puzzling pieces of footage popped up on our radar this week, beginning with an eerie security camera video from upstate New York that appeared to feature a odd figure, which some suspect could have been a ghost or a Bigfoot spotted running outside a man's home and then vanishing into the darkness. Speaking of Sasquatch, an individual in Canada captured footage of a dark creature that, at times, bore a striking resemblance to the legendary cryptid.
You can find more fascinating stories about the strange and unusual at the Coast to Coast AM website.