Weird Universe Archive
July 2015
July 5, 2015
Follies of the Madmen #253
If only Hollywood had made John Carter of Mars in 1979, with Cher as Dejah Thoris, they would have had a surefire hit!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 05, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Fashion, Hollywood, Movies, Music, Advertising, Science Fiction, 1970s
July 4, 2015
Satanic cloud above Statue of Liberty
Over at about.com, in honor of the Fourth of July, I just posted The 10 Weirdest Moments in the History of the Statue of Liberty, one of those moments being the time in 1989 (or maybe it was 1990 - sources differ), when two Irish tourists on vacation in NYC took a photo of Lady Liberty. It was only when they got back home and developed the photo that they noticed a "Satanic face" in the clouds leering down at her. I'll let you decide for yourself what meaning, if any, this might have. But as far as cloud photos go, it's a pretty famous one.Also, Happy Fourth of July!
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 04, 2015 -
Comments (12)
Category: Photography and Photographers, 1980s
Happy Fourth of July!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 04, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Holidays, Sex Symbols, North America
July 3, 2015
Frog Fancier
Archie Beesley, frog fancier, liked to eat them live. Just like oysters, he said, they helped with "cleaning out the stomach."
Source: The Ottawa Journal — Jul 15, 1970
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 03, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Food, 1970s
The Plot to Steal Abe Lincoln’s Corpse
Once upon a time, some crooks thought it would be a good idea to rob the grave of Abe Lincoln and hold the corpse for ransom.
One account here.
More detailed account here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 03, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Politics, Stupid Criminals, Nineteenth Century
July 2, 2015
Beware of Killer Umbrellas
About five years ago (on June 30, 2010), Lynn Stevens was sitting on the beach, minding her own business, when an umbrella came plummeting out of the sky and impaled her leg. Here's her account of the incident:
"It was a very windy day and the umbrella was lifted straight up in the air. It came straight back down and went through my thigh. The pole went into my leg about four inches and it just missed my femoral artery. It didn’t tumble like you see them do so often. Instead, it went straight up and came straight down... It took four men to hold the umbrella steady in the wind to prevent it from doing more damage. They literally sawed off the pole right there on the beach and left about a 12-inch length of the pole sticking out of my leg. They took me to PRMC and the rest of it was taken out in the operating room. It was a little unnerving because the nurses and doctors looked a little astonished to see the umbrella pole sticking out of my leg because I figured they had probably seen everything."
That's pretty terrifying. The worst part is that there's not much you can do to prevent randomly being attacked by an umbrella that falls silently from the sky, because it's other people's umbrellas (improperly set in the sand) that are going to get you. You're at the mercy of their stupidity.
Image source: Nikos Patsiouris, Flickr.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 02, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Death, Violence
July 1, 2015
Exploding Chickens
Spontaneously exploding chickens startle German farmer.
The Ogden Standard - Nov 17, 1950
Farmer Reports Hens Explode With Loud Bang
LUNEBERG, Germany, Nov 17 (UP) — An excited farmer told police today that some of his chickens "exploded with a loud bang while running across the barnyard."
An investigation showed that the chickens ate bits of carbide left behind by allied soldiers during fall maneuvers, later drank some water and the resulting gas blew them to bits.
LUNEBERG, Germany, Nov 17 (UP) — An excited farmer told police today that some of his chickens "exploded with a loud bang while running across the barnyard."
An investigation showed that the chickens ate bits of carbide left behind by allied soldiers during fall maneuvers, later drank some water and the resulting gas blew them to bits.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 01, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Farming, Explosives, 1950s
Paddle Pops
More proof that everything is upside-down in Australia, as good old Popsicles become Paddle Pops.
Also, as in our previous entry on Gaytime Raspberry Roughs, I could easily imagine someone getting more than they bargained for when they requested a "paddle pop," especially if you went into a sketchy corner grocery store and asked for the flavor known as "dragon popper" and got some amyl nitrate instead.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 01, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Junk Food, 1960s, Australia
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction books such as Elephants on Acid. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Chuck Shepherd Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre. Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott. Contact Us |
