Here is a rundown of the top stories in oddities and paranormal news from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News.
Early in the week, the big news was the arrest of notorious spammer Dennis Markuze.
Also known to many of us as David Mabus, a name he adopted, he was familiar via the many many, oh so many various accounts he created in order to email, comment and tweet insults and links to terribly incoherent videos. But he did slide back into the threat mode and was subsequently arrested. This link includes the news stories about his second arrest and a link to a VERY complete summary by a true skeptical hero (and JREF fellow), Tim Farley. Thank you, Tim, for all your hard work.Now, onto the Bigfoot news of the week. You may wonder why I bother. Well, the media has a current fascinating with the big guy so word gets out. The big stories this week were that New York has stated that the creature doesn't exist in terms of hunting.
(But there is no clear consensus of what happens if you shoot one.) There was an apeman sighting in the U.K. Yes, an island. And there was a flurry of press this week on a Bigfoot DNA study. The study itself is a drama of epic proportions. If you are interested, I'll apologize in advance.On to other news.
Manta rays are being harvested for Traditional Chinese Medicine but questions have arisen as to why this is even happening.
People are (pretending to be) dying for this odd therapy in China.
The Republican party, after facing a disappointing election result, have not given up on the religious stance about creation. Science just gets no respect.
On a similar note, people were loathe to give up their favorite monster explanation for a mystery of science now deemed solved: The Bloop sea sound.
And people are loathe to give up on the myth that the full moon causes odd behavior. Once again, we have a study that shows it does not.
Scientists have looked at the brains of people who believe they are experiencing the phenomena of spirit writing.
Kelly Preston, a Scientologist, uses a shady expert on a TV show and makes some unwarranted claims about autism. Don't use celebrities for medical advice. Please.
In disappointing health news, the doctor who runs an extremely dubious cancer treatment clinic has slipped the grasp of the Texas medical board.
Finally, in the dual weird news stories of the week, an island just doesn't exist and check out the pareidolia we found in the aurora or Northern lights. We're being watched.
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