The new year is off to a hectic start, but I’m going to do my best to get something out there every week. Except last week. That was last week. Well, here we go!
NUFORC!
I sometimes like to check NUFORC for updates on the UFO situation. That’s the National UFO Reporting Center, founded in 1974, and they have a databank with sightings reported to them, sorted by things like dates, locations, and even UFO shapes.
In 2023, according to their databank, NUFORC received 4,183 total sightings, currently down from 2022’s ~5,174. Last year’s most active period seemed to be in July-August!
One highlighted sighting involves a strange hovering light with an aura spotted during the morning of December 14, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. According to the witness, the object appeared intensely bright, and seemed to emit a blue light or beam with “more of a tentacle appearance.” The object would shift between an orb shape and something resembling a pyramid. Later that same day in the evening, the witness saw the object again, claiming it eventually “zoomed away.” The report also includes a short video.
What was it? Who’s to say! I’d like to share my artist’s interpretation of the artist’s interpretation, though. How would you react if you saw this in the sky?
Elsa, Again?
Anyone remember Frozen? Disney’s hit 2013 animated film loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen? Loosely based.
In 2020, an account surfaced about a family in Texas who found themselves haunted by a Frozen Elsa doll. They tried to get rid of it, multiple times, and yet somehow it kept coming back. You can read more on that over here, I won’t retell it. But imagine my surprise to see a similar story pop up in the news just this week.
Are you telling me there are two haunted Elsa dolls out there?
Well, no, apparently. Like the haunted doll itself, the story of the Texan Elsa doll also likes to resurface unexpectedly. Why? I don’t know. This isn’t the first time an old paranormal story has found new life in a tabloid only to be reported by other outlets as if it just happened, though. It’s fantastic.
But who am I to talk, I guess. I’m doing that right now!
Also In The News
Palm trees on the move? No, it’s not a new cryptid, unfortunately. ScienceAlert has a pun-filled article about allegedly walking palm trees, or Socratea exorrhiza, of the Central and South American rain forests. According to palm expert Gerardo Avalos, the idea of the palms actually walking is “just a myth,” but they do have very impressive roots.
To the moon, maybe. Astrobotic Technology launched their Peregrine lunar lander earlier this week, marking the first US lander mission since the 1970s. Unfortunately, shortly after launch, the lander began to lose fuel due to a ruptured tank, as NPR reports. According to a tweet by Astrobotic, “Given the propellant leak, there is, unfortunately, no chance of a soft landing on the moon.”
There And Back Again, Dissolved Edition. A 39-year-old Virginian woman recounts her near-death experience, describing it as a feeling of being dissolved that was “just really nice.” Her heart stopped beating for at least 24 minutes before being revived.
How to curse a painting. Shopping at a charity or antique store seems a bit risky if you’re familiar with paranormal tales. Well, here’s another one: An allegedly cursed portrait of a young girl has been very difficult for one store in East Sussex to get rid of, as those who purchase it tend to later want the painting out of their lives. So far, the curse seems mostly one of inconveniences – cars and electronics breaking down or turning off, exploding toasters, and at least one sighting of a supernatural manifestation. You can currently find the portrait at the London Bridge Experience, a tourist attraction that has reportedly flooded twice since the owner purchased the painting. How long until it’s returned, again?
Its history is unclear, but bad luck seems to follow the painting. Is it actually cursed, or does believing make it so?
Wrapping Up
That’s it for this post! I’m going to try my best to get these out on weekends and not, you know, Tuesdays. But something is better than nothing. I’m hoping to make 2024 a more active year here at Stranger Dimensions, but what that looks like yet, I do not know!
Hopefully, like the bad luck from a cursed painting, thinking it will make it actually happen.
