Off to a rollicking start for 2014. Here is a rundown of the strange stories that the media fed to us for this past week courtesy of Doubtful News.
What's one of the first stories from New Years Eve? A ghost along the Thames. It's unimpressive.
Also unimpressive but really laughable, as usual, are the "top psychic" predictions for 2014. Have a look and a chuckle.
Right before New Year's Eve, we posted a story about a UFO group in Sweden expecting an increase in calls regarding lights in the sky that were actually Chinese Lanterns - floating luminaries.
The day after the New Year, the California media (who obviously don't keep up with Doubtful News, haha), went overboard for UFO stories of what were OBVIOUSLY Chinese Lanterns across Sacramento. They appeared to do ZERO checking on the story.
The week between December 24 and January 1 is typically a silly one for news. We had a few…
Did Kim Jong-Un feed his uncle to the dogs? No, probably not, but the media thought this was a great story to pass along anyway.
A crop circle in California might be the real deal, say investigators. Talk about credulous!
The guy who claimed to have a real Bigfoot in a freezer in 2008 now is trying to pull the same stunt again. Only the local news station seems to be giving him the time of day.
And then there is the magnetic man vying for attention again. (He's just rather sticky.)
Big and controversial news this week of a debate: Ken Ham of the Creation Museum vs Bill Nye the Science Guy. Not everyone is thrilled about it since it has the potential to raise money for Ham's struggling Bible show.
A new "River Jordan" has sprung up in Nigeria. Leo Igwe who posts here on the Swift Blog, calls for government action because of the serious potential for illness and disease.
Animal Planet had a successful 2013 by becoming less factual and more fictional. They brag about that here
Talk about a sore loser! A woman running for City Counsel claims her opponent hexed her. With art.
The Catholic Church is embracing the rise in requests for exorcisms by training more exorcists. Who trains the trainers, I wonder?
You may have seen the many scare stories about Fukushima radiation. An expert debunks the claim that a starfish disease is related to radiation poisoning.
Finally, our year end wrap up of the BEST stories is available Check out the editors' picks and the Readers' Choices.
Come visit Doubtfulnews.com for stories like this every day. Check out our twitter feed @doubtfulnews and our Facebook page . Send your story tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Happy 2014 and stay skeptical --there's a lot of nonsense out there.
Sharon Hill runs Doubtful News, a unique feed of news stories about the paranormal, pseudoscience, the weird and the unexplained with questioning commentary.