The world is an amazing place, sometimes more so than we ever imagine. We are living in a Golden Age for those who are interested in scientific phenomena.

See Also: 10 Jaw-Dropping Videos Of Amazing Scientific Phenomena

No longer do you have to get your hands dirty in a smelly lab or trek into unknown regions to witness something wonderful. You just have to start up your computer and watch a video of it. Here are 10 phenomena worth seeing and the scientific theories behind them.

10 Prince Rupert’s Drops

Prince Rupert’s drops have been fascinating scientists for hundreds of years. In 1661, a paper was presented at the Royal Society of London on these strange objects that look like glass tadpoles. The drops are named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who first introduced them to his cousin King Charles II.

Made by dropping molten glass into water, they exhibit weird properties when exposed to forces. Hit a Prince Rupert’s drop with a hammer on the bulbous end, and nothing happens. Yet with just the slightest damage to the tail end, the whole drop explodes violently. Charles had an interest in science and so challenged the Royal Society to explain the behavior of the drops.

His savants were stumped. It took nearly 400 years, but modern scientists armed with high-speed cameras were finally able to see directly how the drops exploded. A shock wave can be seen traveling from the tail to the head at around 1.6 kilometers per second (1 MPS) as the stresses inherent in the drop are released.^[1]

When the Prince Rupert’s drop is made in the water, the outer layer becomes a solid while the inner glass remains molten. As the inner glass cools, it shrinks in volume and creates a strong structure by pulling against itself, making the head of the drop incredibly resistant to damage. But as soon as the weaker tail is broken, the stress is released, allowing the whole drop to erupt into a fine powder.

9 See Light Moving

While light is technically the only thing we see, we never see it moving. Moments after you flip a light switch, the light from a bulb has already crossed the room. So fast is light that only on the largest scales would it be conceivable that you could track its movements—until now.

Using a camera capable of taking 1 trillion frames per second, scientists have been able to create videos of light moving across everyday objects like apples and Coke bottles. Firing a laser pulse that only lasts for 1 quadrillionth of a second, the researchers could capture what amounts to a bullet of light as it passes over things.

Other teams have already improved on the techniques used to create the video above. Using a camera able to take 10 trillion frames per second, they can follow a single pulse of light rather than having to repeat the experiment for each frame.^[2]

8 Cloud Chambers

Radioactivity was first discovered when X-rays were found to be fogging photographic plates. Ever since, people have been searching for ways of observing radiation to better understand the phenomenon.

One of the earliest—and still coolest—ways was to create a cloud chamber. Cloud chambers take advantage of the fact that droplets of vapor will condense around ions. When a radioactive particle passes through the chamber, it leaves a trail of ions in its wake. As the vapor condenses on them, you can directly observe the path that the particle has taken.^[3]

Cloud chambers have been replaced today with more sensitive methods of detection, but they were vital in the discovery of subatomic particles like the positron, muon, and kaon. Today, cloud chambers are useful in displaying the different types of radiation. Alpha particles show short, heavy lines, while beta particles have longer, thinner ones.

7 Superfluid

Everyone knows what a fluid is. Well, a superfluid is like that but more so. When you stir a fluid like tea in a mug, you might get a swirling vortex. But within seconds, the friction between the fluid particles will stop the flow. In a superfluid, there is no friction. So, a stirred cup of superfluid will continue to rotate forever. Such is the weird world of the superfluids.

In a similar way, it is possible to construct fountains that will continue to jet upward without adding more energy because no energy is lost to friction in a superfluid. The most bizarre property of superfluids? They can climb out of any container (as long as it is not infinitely tall) because their lack of viscosity allows them to form a thin layer that completely covers the container.^[4]

For those wanting to play around with a superfluid, there is bad news. Not all chemicals can form superfluids. For those that do exist, they only occur within a few degrees of absolute zero.

6 Ice Wave

A frozen lake can be a haunting place. As the ice cracks, eerie pinging noises can echo across the surface. Looking down, you might be able to see animals that have become frozen and trapped. But perhaps the most amazing ability of a frozen lake is to form waves of ice that crash on the shore.

If only the top layer becomes solid when a lake freezes, it is possible for the ice on top to move. If a warm wind passes over the lake, the whole sheet of ice may begin to move. All that ice has to go somewhere.^[5]

As the ice reaches the shore, the sudden friction and stress causes the ice to shatter and build up. Sometimes, these ice waves can be several feet high and travel inland. The cracking of the crystals that make up the ice sheet gives the creation of ice waves an eerie tickling sound like thousands of glasses being shattered.

5 Volcanic Shock Wave

A volcanic eruption is just about the most powerful explosion that humans are likely to see on Earth. In seconds, energy equivalent to multiple atomic bombs can launch thousands of tons of rock and debris miles into the air. Best not to be too close when that happens.

However, some people are inquisitive about these things and will linger near an erupting volcano to record a video of it. In 2014, Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea exploded. Luckily for us, people were there to film it. As the volcano blew, a shock wave could be seen traveling upward into the clouds and outward toward the observer. It broke over the boat like a thunderclap.

The explosion that produced the shock wave was probably caused by gas building up within the volcano as magma blocked its escape. The sudden release of this gas compressed the air around the volcano and produced the wave that rocketed out in all directions.^[6]

4 Volcanic Lightning

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, Pliny the Younger observed something strange about the explosion: “There was a most intense darkness rendered more appalling by the fitful gleam of torches at intervals obscured by the transient blaze of lightning.”

This is the first recorded mention of volcanic lightning. When a thunderous cloud of dust and rock is propelled into the sky by a volcano, huge bolts of lightning can be seen dancing around it.

Volcanic lightning does not occur with every eruption. It is caused by a buildup of charge.

In the heat of a volcano, electrons can be easily kicked off an atom to produce a positively charged ion. Electrons can also be transferred by collisions between dust particles. The electrons can then attach to other atoms to make negatively charged ions.^[7]

From the different ways that the ions move due to size and speed, a buildup of charge can occur across the plume of the eruption. When the charge is sufficiently high, it will transfer from one region to another in the blisteringly fast and hot bolts of lightning seen in the video above.

3 Levitating Frogs

Each year, the Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded for research that “makes people laugh and then think.”

In 2000, Andre Geim won the Ig Nobel Prize for levitating a frog using magnets. His curiosity had been piqued when he poured some water directly into a machine with powerful electromagnets around it. The water clung to the walls of the tube, and droplets even began to float. Geim had discovered that magnetic fields could act strongly enough on water to overcome the Earth’s gravitational pull.

Before this, diamagnetic materials—those without an overall magnetic field—were thought not to interact much at all with magnetic fields. Geim moved from water droplets to live animals, including frogs. These could be levitated because of their water content and led to some bemused-looking animals in strong magnetic fields.^[8]

The sting of winning an Ig Nobel Prize was somewhat lessened when Geim won a real Nobel Prize for his part in the discovery of graphene.

2 Laminar Flow

Can you unmix a liquid?

It turns out that you can under certain conditions. If you pour orange juice into water, then it is unlikely that you will ever separate the two. But using dyed corn syrup as shown in the video above, you can. This is due to the special properties of syrup as a fluid and what is called laminar flow. This is a type of movement within fluids where layers tend to move in the same direction as each other without mixing.

This example is a special type of laminar flow, known as Stokes flow, where the fluid used is so thick and viscous that it barely allows any diffusion of particles. The mixture is stirred slowly, so it does not form any turbulence that would really mix the colored dyes together.^[9]

It only appears that the dyes mix because light is passing through the layers that contain the separate dyes. Slowly reversing the mixing brings the dyes back to their original positions.

1 Cherenkov Radiation

You might think that nothing moves faster than the speed of light. Indeed, the speed of light does seem to be a speed limit in this universe that nothing can break—as long as you are talking about the speed of light in a vacuum. When light enters any transparent medium, it slows down. This is due to the electronic component of light’s electromagnetic waves interacting with the wave properties of electrons in the medium.

It turns out that many objects can move faster than this new, slower speed of light. If a particle enters water at 99 percent of the speed of light in a vacuum, then the particle will overtake light, which only travels at 75 percent of the speed of light in a vacuum in water. And we can actually see this happen.

When the particle passes through the electrons of the medium, light is given off as it disrupts the electronic field. A nuclear reactor in water glows blue because it is flinging off electrons at such high speeds—as seen when the reactor is activated above. The eerie glow of radioactive sources is even cooler than most people think.^[10]

Everyday people encounter things that can’t be explained.  What that statement means can be interpreted in a lot of ways, however. A UFO in the sky is an unexplained phenomenon to most of us. On the other hand, if you’ve never seen a vacuum before, that would be a baffling phenomenon as well. Everything in nature probably has an explanation, even if we’re not aware what it is. That said, the world seems to be full of things that have no logical explanation at first glance. 

10. Poets Die Younger Than All Other Writers

The world of writing can be quite diverse. You can write nonfiction, you can do technical writing, you can be a screenwriter, and of course you can still be a poet.  Once upon a time being a poet was quite a revered profession. Shakespeare was a poet, after all. But poetry isn’t all red roses and blue violets.

As it happens, poetry is something of a dangerous profession. Compared to all other writers, poets die much younger. It’s been speculated this is in part because poets are self-destructive by nature. The stereotype of the tortured poet didn’t come out of thin air after all.

It turns out that writers of all stripes die younger than people in other occupations. However, poets are on the bottom rung of that short-lived ladder. Any number of factors could contribute to this, but it seems to be a cross-cultural phenomenon. In a study of novelists, playwrights, nonfiction writers, and poets taken from the United States,Turkey, China, and Eastern Europe, poets had the shortest lifespan of all with no obvious reason attributed to it.

9. The Mariko Aoki Phenomenon

If you have never heard of the Mariko Aoki phenomenon, then you’re in for a treat. This condition, which no one can confirm is even real but has certainly been reported more than once, is named for the woman who first wrote a letter to a magazine in Japan describing it.

To put it bluntly, the Mariko Aoki phenomenon occurs when you go to a bookstore and then have an inexplicable urge to poop once inside the bookstore. In her 1985 letter, Aoki revealed she had realized the urge came upon her any time she entered a bookstore. It sounded utterly absurd, and you’d think one had nothing to do with the other until more people wrote to the magazine with similar stories.

The letter became an article in a later issue as they explored this phenomenon. The reason, of course, remains unclear. There’s been much speculation ranging from the smell of books having some kind of relaxing effect on one’s bowels, while others heading the more Pavlovian route and suggesting that if you read on the toilet, your brain will tie these events together and force the urge upon you.

Naturally, many people question if this is real at all or just a bunch of people trolling, but at least one Texas gastroenterologist has had to deal with patients claiming to suffer from it and believes it’s a real, albeit psychological, condition. 

8. Carcinization

Have you ever speculated about what alien life might look like if it were to come to Earth? Obviously, pop culture has settled in on the small gray aliens with colossal heads and bug eyes look. But if evolution on Earth is any sign, we should at least consider that aliens are going to look like crabs. That’s because of the phenomenon known as carcinization. Carcinization is the name we’ve given to the phenomenon of distinct life forms evolving into crabs. It’s happened at least five times on Earth.

Turns out not everything you think is a crab is actually a crab. For instance, the king crab, which is favored by many at seafood buffets, isn’t a real crab at all. From an evolutionary standpoint it’s what’s known as a false crab. Its ancestors didn’t look like crabs, but it evolved into the same shape as what you think is a crab.

Porcelain crabs and hairy stone crabs are two more creatures that look like crabs now but evolved from non-crab ancestors. Scientists aren’t even sure how many times this might have happened, but we have a handful of confirmed cases. As to why it happens? That’s up in the air, as well. Clearly there is some reason, maybe an evolutionary advantage we don’t understand, but it’s all speculative. 

7. Terminal Lucidity or Rally 

Patients who have dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and related conditions will get worse as the disease progresses. Often these conditions can degrade a person’s cognitive function so badly that they are no longer themselves in the end. However, there is a phenomenon known as terminal lucidity that affects many patients with these conditions although it’s hard to say exactly how many.

Terminal lucidity, sometimes called rally, or paradoxical lucidity, occurs shortly before the patient dies. It could be as far out as a week or even on the day of death. But the patient seems to recover many of their cognitive functions and clarity. They may be like their old self again, able to speak or even remember some details of their past and personality in ways that they had not been able to for a long time. 

It’s not just dementia patients either, as terminal cancer patients who have lost the ability to speak or express themselves coherently may also show signs of this. The reasons for the change in these patients is not very well known or studied, however. 

6. Formaldehyde Hunger

Have you ever seen a movie or TV show in which a coroner is doing an autopsy and they have a sandwich sitting on a table near them? This kind of thing is played for a joke showing off how morbid this person must be if they can stomach eating while working on a corpse. Turns out that this is actually based on real world observations. Many people who work with cadavers have reported something that is known as formaldehyde hunger. it may just be anecdotal, but is extremely well known in medical fields.

It’s not that coroners, medical examiners, and med students are necessarily ghouls. It’s just that, at least according to commonly held beliefs and firsthand observations, the smell of formaldehyde can trigger a hunger response in some people.

There’s no actual science behind this phenomenon, there’s nothing that specifically says formaldehyde triggers this reaction in the human brain, and in part that’s because no one is really bothered to study it. It’s not groundbreaking science that’s really pressing on anyone’s mind. But that doesn’t discount anecdotal evidence either. These are doctors after all sharing their own observations and if it makes some people truly hungry, then clearly something is going on.

5. Windshield Phenomenon 

When was the last time you went for a drive down the highway? When you got home, do you remember thinking anything unusual about your windshield? Specifically, was it clean or was it covered in splattered bug carcasses?

The windshield phenomenon posits that the world is losing bugs. We can observe this every time we go for a drive and come home with a fairly clean windshield when compared to how things used to be in the past. The idea is that, back in the day, if you went for a road trip, you would have bugs splattered all over your car by the time you got home. And according to the phenomenon that doesn’t happen anymore.

As bizarre as this one might sound, there’s evidence to back it up. Research has shown that the number of bugs that end up splattered on somebody’s car is as much as 50% less than it was 15 years earlier. We really are running out of insects, in what some have called an insect apocalypse. Why is it happening? Everything from habitat loss to pesticides and climate change can be factors.

4. Marketing Placebo Effect 

Do you buy name brand food at the grocery store or the store brand? Does it make a difference? For many people, the more expensive option tastes better. This has actually been proven through experiments with wine. If you put the exact same wine in a more expensive bottle and give it to people to sample, most people will say that the more expensive wine was better tasting even if it’s the same thing. That’s the marketing placebo effect.

Interestingly enough, the phenomenon works in reverse too. For instance, if you’re selling something like an energy drink and then offer it at a discount, shoppers will think it must not be very effective because it’s so cheap.

During the wine experiment, the brains of the participants were actively studied in an MRI which proved that your brain reacts differently when you perceive something as more expensive and therefore higher quality, even if it’s not true. 

3. Latchkey Incontinence 

Latchkey incontinence is not a pleasant name for a phenomenon and you have to assume it’s going to be something at least a little unpleasant.  The condition it describes is related to the urgency you feel to go to the bathroom the closer you get to a bathroom. It may start with just the normal acknowledgment that you do have to go, and as you get closer and closer to the washroom that urge builds to the point of being almost unbearable. 

Before you get close to a washroom, you’ll probably be perfectly fine doing any number of tasks. However, once you’re within range, it’s like the floodgates are open. This is most noticeable when you’re on your way home and you have to use the washroom and then the moment you get to the door, it feels like you’re about to lose control completely. There may be physical or psychological reasons for this to occur.

2. The High Place Phenomenon

Have you ever heard of the Call of the Void? This is also known as the high place phenomenon and it is as weird as it is potentially deadly. This phenomenon can grip you when you are at the edge of a cliff or a tall building looking out over the world and get the urge to jump off. It can also happen in any other dangerous situation where you can easily make a terrible choice and hurt yourself. For instance, if you’ve ever been taken with the urge to jump on the tracks in the subway, or swerve into oncoming traffic.

These bizarre urges have been reported in many people and they don’t necessarily have anything to do with one’s mental health. There’s been plenty of speculation as to why you might have these quick urges that most people will never follow through on, but the exact reason for this phenomenon is not known and is not well studied. 

1. The Great Male Renunciation 

What exactly makes an article of clothing men’s clothing versus women’s clothing? We absolutely have an idea in our heads in the bottom world of what that means. Have you ever looked at how men dressed hundreds of years ago? High heeled shoes were not uncommon. Bright colors like purple and pink were certainly not abnormal. And we need only look to Scotland and the kilt to see that jeans or dress pants were not always the standard for men.

At the turn of the 19th century something dubbed the Great Male Renunciation occurred. This shift in men’s fashion got rid of flamboyant attire – things like frilly cuffs and bright colors. It ushered in dark suits in gray and navy and, as one psychologist put it, men abandoned their claim on being beautiful and focused instead on being useful. 

Part of this came from the idea that men were supposed to be rational while women were not, so men had to be more plain and acetic in their dress. In many ways it was the groundwork for the idea of alpha male mentality and manliness, by rejecting the frivolity of old.

Modern medicine has advanced so dramatically in the last century that it’s hard to believe that so much is still unexplained. But doctors are often faced with medical mysteries, those phenomena that currently lack a confirmed cause or full explanation.

Although we can’t list every medical mystery here, these 10 examples are a great way to illustrate how medicine continues to grow and transform over time. They also show how much new research is always needed.

10 Medical Student Syndrome

Nearly everyone has had those fleeting thoughts that they’re experiencing a symptom from a severe, undiagnosed disease. Throughout medical school, future doctors learn about thousands of diseases with various signs and symptoms that they are expected to recognize in their own patients one day. An interesting phenomenon that seems to occur in some of these people is known as “medical student syndrome.”

This occurs when medical students believe they are experiencing the symptoms of a disease that they are studying. As opposed to illness anxiety disorder, these delusions are transient.^[1]

It is unknown exactly why this occurs. But researchers believe that medical students create a mental schema as they learn about a disease and some students begin to recognize normal bodily sensations as part of this disease schema.

One study found that up to 78.8 percent of randomly sampled medical students suffer from a form of medical student syndrome. For some, this illness anxiety can be debilitating and lead to unnecessary medical bills. Despite widespread knowledge of this syndrome, it continues to propagate and affect hundreds of students each year.

9 Chemo Brain

Many cancer survivors use the term “chemo brain” to describe the thinking and memory problems that occur after chemotherapy treatment. Symptoms can vary from person to person—from difficulty concentrating to memory problems or difficulty multitasking. This is an extremely frustrating phenomenon for those who are undergoing chemotherapy.

For years, many doctors did not believe in this phenomenon. As it became more common, however, physicians began to recognize that this was a real and debilitating experience. Currently, there is no consensus on what is causing chemo brain, but it is believed to be due to more than just chemotherapy treatment. Researchers are trying to find the source of the cognitive difficulties but have been unsuccessful so far.^[2]

8 Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome

First described in 1900, Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) is an extremely rare disease. Affecting blood vessels, bones, and soft tissues, this condition results in three characteristic features: a red birthmark known as a port-wine stain, abnormal bone and soft tissue overgrowth, and venous malformations. The increased size of bone and soft tissue can result in oversized limbs, usually in the lower body and legs. The venous malformations can result in large blood clots.

Famous cases of KTS include Billy Corgan, the lead singer for The Smashing Pumpkins, and Matthias Schlitte, a professional arm wrestler. Notably, Matthias is known for his Popeye-like right forearm that allows him to be an extremely successful arm wrestler. His condition causes the bone in his right forearm to be 33 percent larger than the one in his other forearm. Currently, there is no cure for the condition and physicians have little explanation as to the cause of the disease.^[3]

7 Rip Van Winkle Syndrome

The disease sounds like the work of a fairy tale, but Rip Van Winkle syndrome is far from fantasy. Also known as Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS), this disease has only a few reported cases and its physiological cause has not been confirmed.

At age 13, Stephen Maier became a victim of KLS following an upper respiratory infection. Out of nowhere, his parents were unable to wake him up. When they finally did, he was completely incoherent.

After many tests, all of which were negative, Stephen was left with no answers. Even tests on brain activity showed no abnormalities. Maier would go through sleeping spells of up to 22 hours a day for 10 to 20 consecutive days. As mysteriously as the disease appeared, it gradually faded away in his twenties.^[4]

In another case of KLS, a 17-year-old female from Pennsylvania experienced a sleeping episode that lasted 64 days—from Thanksgiving to January. She was reported to have slept 22–24 hours a day. When she did awaken to eat and use the bathroom, she was in a sleepwalking state.

In addition to this sleepiness, sufferers can experience increased appetite, hallucinations, anhedonia, childlike behavior, and hypersexuality. Between these episodes, however, the patients are completely asymptomatic.

Although it may seem appealing to some to get so much sleep, patients end up missing out on large parts of their lives. A few theories about the origin of this disease range from a virus to autoimmunity, but its cause is still largely unknown.

6 Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome

First described in 2004 by J.H. Allen and colleagues, this odd disorder presents with intractable nausea, vomiting, and GI distress. With further study, the researchers found that all these patients shared a common background of long-term cannabis use.

Although little is known about the cause of this phenomenon, two theories have been put forth. The first holds that the toxic buildup of cannabinoids may be the cause. The second has to do with the functionality of cannabinoid receptors in the brain. During these episodes, some patients have reported temporary symptom relief from a hot shower or bath or psychiatric medications. The only known cure is stopping the use of cannabis. Improvement can be seen within one to three months.

These vomiting episodes tend to last for one to two days. What is extremely odd about this disorder is that marijuana is known for its anti-vomiting effect. This paradox is especially problematic for people who use marijuana to treat nausea and vomiting and then end up feeling more nauseated. It is unclear as to why some chronic users develop this disorder while others do not.^[5]

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is extremely complex, and researchers are still searching for explanations. As the use of marijuana increases, it is an area that will require much more research.

5 Abscopal Effect

Michael Postow and his colleagues put forth a paper describing a patient whose metastatic melanoma tumors began shrinking after the person received the drug ipilimumab and radiotherapy. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, this report got a lot of attention in the medical community.

The abscopal effect refers to the bizarre phenomenon where metastatic tumors throughout the body shrink in response to localized treatment of a tumor. For many years, there was no explanation for this interesting reaction. In 2004, it was first hypothesized that the immune system may play a role in this systemic shrinking. While researchers are continuing to investigate the cause of what is happening, a firm explanation has yet to be established.^[6]

4 The Lazarus Phenomenon

An 11-month-old girl in the intensive care unit at the University of Rochester Medical Center had been pronounced dead after aggressive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), seven doses of epinephrine, two bags of fluid, and four shocks to her chest. After two minutes of asystole, the official time of death was called out at 1:58 PM.

The girl’s family was devastated and asked for her breathing tube to be removed so that they could have some time with their daughter. Fifteen minutes after she was pronounced dead, the tube was removed. Suddenly, the girl began to breathe spontaneously. Her heart began beating again, her color came back, and her gag reflex reappeared. The physicians had never seen anything like this.^[7]

The Lazarus phenomenon is a rare occurrence in which patients experience a delayed return of spontaneous circulation after CPR has been stopped. This bizarre syndrome was initially described in 1982. It was named “Lazarus” after the man who was resurrected by Christ four days after his death.

The explanation for this miraculous ability to come back to life has continued to evade physicians and researchers alike. Some believe that there may be more than one mechanism at work, such as the delayed action of drugs or high potassium.

3 Smoking Aversion From Hepatitis

Thousands of people try various methods to quit smoking every year. While many researchers are learning more about the causes behind nicotine addiction, much less is known about the roots of smoking aversion. However, one interesting trigger has been discovered for immediate smoking aversion—the development of hepatitis A.^[8]

There are various presentations when a person is infected with hepatitis A, depending upon its stage. The first phase (aka the viral replication phase) is largely asymptomatic in most patients. Moving into the prodromal or second phase, patients can experience anorexia, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, fatigue, itching, and an aversion to smoking. The disease then begins to affect the liver and GI system before resolving.

Although aversion to smoking is a documented effect of acute hepatitis A, little is known about its cause. More research is definitely warranted in this area as the discovery of the cause of the aversion may be extremely helpful to millions of smokers throughout the world.

2 Meat Allergy From Ticks

Last year, the researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases were stumped by the increasing number of US cases of anaphylaxis to a molecule found in red meat. Alpha gal is a sugar molecule that is naturally found in beef, pork, lamb, and other red meats.

As researchers delved deeper into the histories of patients with this allergy, they found that most were located in the Southeast and certain parts of New York, New Jersey, and New England. Even more interestingly, all the patients had a history of bites from the lone star tick.

This allergy was particularly hard to diagnose because it presented 3–6 hours after ingestion, unlike common anaphylaxis that presents within 5–30 minutes. The symptoms of this odd anaphylaxis ranged from hives to GI distress to itching and swelling. However, there was no throat swelling. Common allergy tests do not routinely scan for antibodies against alpha gal, so these patients are commonly misdiagnosed.

Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills initially discovered the alpha gal connection.^[9] Some of his patients with a history of lone star tick bites experienced anaphylaxis from the cancer drug cetuximab, which contains alpha gal. Although the source of the allergy has been discovered, the reason that lone star tick bites are associated with alpha-gal allergies remains a mystery.

1 Cellular Memory

Cellular memory is a controversial hypothesis that the body itself is capable of storing memories rather than only the brain. As there is mostly anecdotal evidence to support this theory, many consider it to be pseudoscientific.

Many have linked phantom pain to cellular memory for past trauma to a joint or limb. Cellular memory has also come into play in certain stories of organ transplant patients who develop the traits of their donors.

Researchers at the University of Hawaii evaluated whether organ transplant recipients experienced personality changes following their transplants and if any of these changes paralleled the history of their donors. In a study of 10 patients, each one showed 2–5 changes after the completion of a heart transplant that paralleled his or her donor’s history. These changes in preference occurred in areas such as food, art, recreation, career, and even sex.^[10]

One case involved Claire Sylvia, who received a heart from an 18-year-old male who died in a motorcycle crash. When she awoke from the surgery, she had a strong craving for beer and chicken nuggets, which was out of the ordinary for her. Additionally, she continued to have recurring dreams about someone named Tim L. After searching obituaries, she found that her heart had come from a man named Tim and later discovered that he loved all the foods that she had begun craving.

In a study done by Tufts University, researchers trained a worm and then removed its head and brain, which shrank it to 1/279th of its original size. The worm was then regrown in the lab and still showed signs of its previous training.

The research on cellular memory has a long way to go before this phenomenon is proven to be real. Nevertheless, we still don’t have any explanations for these odd parallels in numerous transplant stories.

Shelby Hoebee is a third-year medical student. While she doesn’t have much free time anymore, she still enjoys writing top 10 lists when inspiration strikes.

Let’s get the cards on the table at the outset here—this list comes from a sceptical position. A heavily sceptical position. That is not to say an A priori, entrenched, denialist position. Rather, it is that one should always seek proof, not merely evidence, in order to move away from the doubt that is held when encountering extraordinary claims. With that said, evidence is still evidence, and may indeed lead to proof. So an open mind and a willingness to consider counter-narrative positions (when presented clearly and rationally) is key when faced with such debates and conjectures. We good? Right then.

The entries in this list are comprised of stories, footage and other such circumstantial evidence that rise above the usual ‘friend-of-a-friend’ type gossip, phoney mediums on hokey ghost hunter TV shows or the clearly digitally manipulated videos that pollute the interwebs. Scared? You probably shouldn’t be. Maybe just a little bit.

10 Famous Photos Of The Paranormal That Aren’t Paranormal

10 Hell Of A Video

It may be surprising that any case related to famed charlatans the Warrens (of ‘The Conjuring’ fame) would be on a list such as this. But the case of Maurice ‘Frenchy’ Theriault is difficult to easily dismiss as a hoax. Why would this be?

Psychological reasons for odd behaviour, overblown and exaggerated accounts and a general willingness to believe in the supernatural above any rational explanation would usually suffice to sow the seeds of doubt in a story like this.

Then there’s the troubling footage from his exorcism.

As with many supposed victims of demonic possession, Frenchy had a very troubled upbringing. It seems his father was a brutish, violent man, subjecting his son to terrible beatings and, although Frenchy was vague on this, it is assumed some sexual abuse happened also. It was after this terrible event that Frenchy began to notice he had gained preternatural powers—increased strength, hidden knowledge revealed to him and the ability to be in multiple places at once. So far, so Hollywood.

But during an exorcism conducted by Bishop Robert McKenna (with the Warrens close by for, um, moral support?), things get pretty weird, and not in the usual growling and body contorting sort of way. The slow morph of Maurice’s face seen in the video of his exorcism is really freaky. Given that this case occurred in the mid 80s, years before the sophisticated CGI tech we have today, it is hard to believe that anyone involved would have had access to the Hollywood editing required to stage the footage without jump cuts.

There is more than this to the story, however. Frenchy had previously spent time on probation for the rape of a child in 1976, dodged another rape charge in 1985 (charges were dropped when he claimed to be possessed by demons) and his father had killed his mother before killing himself in 1982. So, there’s plenty of precedent beyond the supernatural for what happened next—in 1992, Frenchy succumbed to his violent urges, attempting to murder his estranged wife, shooting her in the arm outside her Massachusetts home with a shotgun. He then turned the gun on himself.

9 Exchanging Tinfoil Hats For Tinfoil Crowns

‘Finally!’ cried all the UFO true believers when this footage was leaked. Hold your horses, though, all this stuff is not proof of the existence of aliens, gang. It is simply proof that US authorities know and study the phenomenon of UFOs (and seem to have no idea what is going on). In and of itself, this is as close to proof that UFO fans and fanatics have ever gotten. You must admit, sceptics, it’s all quite intriguing.

The leaked footage is pretty amazing stuff. This one feels more real. But as compelling as the video is, it’s not proof of the supernatural. Rather, it’s proof that there are phenomena that even the most heavily funded and expert institutions on earth cannot yet explain.

Keep watching the skis… I mean skies (obligatory Simpsons reference complete).

8 The Body In The Billings Reservoir

A body was found near a reservoir outside of the city of Sao Paolo, Brazil in 1988. The man was seemingly tortured to death; facial skin peeled back, eyes pulled out, eyelids cut off, entire muscles had been removed, symmetrically-aligned puncture wounds all over the body with accompanying cauterisation, multiple organs removed (without an obvious incision save a small hole—suggesting the organs had been sucked out). The victim also been castrated and drained of his blood. Furthermore, the man had been probably been conscious during the whole ordeal, given that there was no sign of anaesthetic in his system. There was also a cerebral oedema, suggesting extreme pain. Cause of death—cardiac arrest during extreme agony. Official verdict—Death from natural causes.

It seems that authorities may have (rather poorly) covered up this case. Perhaps it was due to the awful, gruesome details being too alarming for the public. Perhaps there is some darker conspiracy afoot here. Given the similarity between this case and the cattle mutilations often touted as evidence of alien experimentation, it’s hard not to allow the possibility that we humans may be viewed as guinea pigs by some advanced alien species.

7 A Better Way To Look At The ‘Missing 411’ Phenomenon

Author and former police detective David Paulides’ work on collating and examining the many thousands of unexplained missing person cases that occur in the USA’s National Parks is entertaining stuff. Is it convincing? Not really, no. But it is the reason it lacks credibility as a working theory that is interesting here—Paulides and his supporters seem to instinctively try and join up some invisible dots, fashioning a joined-up, all-encompassing conspiracy that will explain each and every case of missing people in the National Parks of the US. We don’t need to do that—scrap the grand narrative approach and take each case on an individual basis and you’ll see that they are far more fascinating, and better evidence of possible explanations beyond our current understanding than Paulides’ loftier claims.

Paulides’ work has brought new life and fresh eyes to some truly baffling cases, cases that may point to something we cannot explain with conventional science. Avoid the web-weaving, and we may find something truly extraordinary.

6 Co-twin-cidence

Here we have a pair of twins separated at birth—some degree of similarity is to be expected, I mean, they are genetically identical. But these coincidences are incredible.

Both were named James by their respective adoptive parents, and went by Jim. One named his first son James Alan, the other James Allan. Both men married a woman named Linda. After both men divorced their respective Lindas, they both married women named Betty. They both named their dogs ‘Toy’. They both worked as deputy sheriffs. They both liked to vacation on the same beach in Florida. They both developed tension headaches when they were 18. They both smoked. They smoked the same brand of cigarettes.

It could simply be the interplay between nature, nurture and environment. But both marrying a Linda then a Betty? There has to be some degree of ESP going on here, surely?

Probably not, but it’s all very strange.

5 Unexplained Sounds And Mysterious Lights

Mysterious loud hums, ringing sounds, low rumbles and trumpet-like blares are heard the world over, causing wonder and confusion by all who hear them. Strange lights in the sky or floating up from bodies of water or dancing on the horizon also seem to have been an unexplained phenomenon for centuries. What the hell is going on? Well, we don’t really know.

The strange noises have been suggested as coming from heavy industrial machinery, fast-moving air currents shearing against slower currents, bio gasses from decaying vegetation or God heralding the end of days.

Strange lights are suggested as being marsh gasses (again), optical illusions cased by mist and car headlights, missile tests, ball lightning, radon decay from rocks causing plasma bursts or God signalling the end of days via Morse code.

4 LiveDieLiveDieRepeat

Reports of paranormal activity are often met with derision. It doesn’t help when the individual or family that are being pestered by a poltergeist/demon/vampires/haunted doll/gremlin immediately call the wrong person to help them. They never call the police. They never try to get clear, irrefutable photo or video evidence. Do they ever get in touch with a decent investigative journo to experience the phenomenon for themselves? No. They call a ‘paranormal expert’—a medium, a ghost hunter, a bloody TV crew. One guy who rose above the colossal dung heap that is the ‘paranormal expert’ community, was Canadian academic Ian Stevenson.

Stevenson’s research into re-incarnation in children is thorough- maybe the only peer-reviewed body of work on the paranormal which is taken remotely seriously. Even ardent sceptics like astronomer Carl Sagan respected his work, writing in his seminal work, ‘The Demon Haunted World—”At the time of writing there are…. claims in the ESP field which…. deserve serious study:… that young children sometimes report the details of a previous life, which upon checking turn out to be accurate and which they could not have known about in any other way than reincarnation.”

Wow!

However, as compelling as Stevenson’s collected anecdotes are, they’re just that—anecdotes. Not proof. That would require rigorous experimentation. So far, we have nothing else to indicate that reincarnation occurs. We cannot rely on Stevenson’s work as more than just a tasty academic snack, not a fully satiating meal of proven theory.

To illustrate this, Carl Sagan’s next line reads—”I pick [this] claim not because I think it’s likely to be valid (I don’t), but as an example of a contention that might be true”.

3 Strange Objects Out Of Place And Out Of Time

1) The Anitkythera Mechanism. 2) The Baghdad Batteries. 3) The Coso Artefact.

1) An uncommon, but not unheard of invention in Ancient Greece. 2) Two storage jars with some acidic residue that was probably a rotted papyrus scroll. 3) A rusty spark plug.

No mysteries here.

Except that damned hammer. Discovered in 1936 in London, Texas, this modern-looking tool was found encased in a 400 million year old limestone concretion.

Clearly it must’ve been made an ancient race of giants. From Jupiter.

Well, maybe not. The hammer seems to be a miner’s hammer from the era it was discovered. There is also a theory posited as to how the hammer could have become encased in the limestone in a relatively short period—the soluble material found in the limestone could have formed around a dropped hammer in a petrifying well—a natural occurrence that is due to water containing an extremely high mineral content. Ok, plausible. Likely, even.

If so, then where are the thousands of other examples that would have doubtlessly occurred?

2 Terminal Spinal-Tap-Drummer Syndrome

All sorts of animals explode—whether it is a rotting whale on a beach, Vietnamese termites that will rupture themselves to defend their pals from attackers or when bored teenagers strap dynamite onto gerbils, animals can blow up naturally. But what about people? There have been many cases of spontaneous human combustion throughout history, baffling relatives, medical examiners and scientists alike. Why and how does this happen?

Many theories have been floated over the years:

Heart attack + cigarette = slow-burning wick effect and very concentrated burn area.

Ketosis in victims caused by alcoholism or low-carb diets leading to a build-up of highly flammable acetone.

Mistaken ‘spontaneity’: intentional self-immolation in order to commit suicide, unidentified external accelerant, inability to move (e.g. stroke, morbid obesity, demonic possession) during immolation.

Maybe every case is one of the above. Maybe it’s some of the above and there remains some paranormal force that causes these weird cases. Either way, what an awful way to go!

1 Angel Hair And Star Jelly

Wouldn’t it be nice if these odd phenomena were actually the hair of angels and jelly thrown down to earth by the stars? For all we know, they may well be!

Scientists haven’t yet solved these twin mysteries from the natural world conclusively. Theories on ‘Angel Hair’ (thin metallic-looking strands that look like spider’s webs that turn up on tree branches and bushes) range from of accidental littering or industrial by-products finding their way into nature, polarized atmospheric electricity forming filaments out of dust particles or biological matter produced by some insect. Or it’s caused by UFOs taking off.

Star Jelly seems to be a bit easier to explain, just not conclusively. It’s frog puke. Probably. Or caused by UFOs taking off. Different UFOs from the ones that make Angel Hair, of course.

10 Paranormal Events Linked To Mass Tragedies

About The Author: C.J. Phillips is a storyteller, actor and writer living in rural West Wales. He is a little obsessed with lists.

For generations, weather has been a staple of both humor and comedy. Mark Twain wrote that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was his attempt to write a book without any weather in it. The “weather forecast for tonight,” comedian George Carlin said, was, in a word, “dark.” And writer Charles Dudley Warner noted that “everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

Despite such witticisms, weather—in general, an effect of wind and sun (on Earth, at least)—is vital to our welfare and, indeed, our very existence, and it is taken so seriously, by farmers, researchers, and almost everyone else, that a whole branch of knowledge, meteorology, is dedicated to its study.

Although we tend to think that the weather offers little that is unknown to us, new meteorological phenomena, as well as weather-related phenomena, do occasionally occur. As this list shows, some of them are truly bizarre, and a few are literally out of this world. Relatively recent discoveries include new types of clouds, new types of extremely powerful storms, an odd optical phenomenon, an unsuspected origin of droughts, hurricane “fuel,” solar flare eruptions’ effects on magnetic fields, the existence of space hurricanes, the so-called Green Ghost, an unexpected source of antimatter, and “a whole different thing.”

10 Conspiracy Theories About Weather Modification

10 Mammatus Clouds

Although they were first witnessed in the early twentieth century, mammatus clouds were added to the World Meteorological Organization’s classification system only in its 2017 update of The International Cloud Atlas.

Named for their resemblance to cows’ udders, mammatus clouds form upside-down, hanging, as it were, from the undersides of cirrocumulus, altostratus, altocumulus, and stratocumulus clouds. Many believe that mammatus clouds herald the approach of a tornado, but they don’t necessarily indicate severe weather, despite their tendency to accompany thunderstorms.

Mammatus clouds form when moist, cool air sinks into drier, warmer air. When the moisture they contain consists of large drops of water vapor or crystals of snow, the clouds tend to last longer than they would otherwise, because it takes longer for the vapor to evaporate, since there is more of it. There is no mistaking these clouds; their appearance is strikingly unusual, even rather eerie.

9 Steve

What’s purple; appears in the sky like a gigantic, unraveling ribbon; and may or may not be a new type of aurora?

A group of amateur meteorologists, The Aurora Chasers, who first spotted the phenomenon named it Steve, in honor of the name that the children in the movie Over the Hedge give the previously unknown creature they discover.

The Aurora Chasers’ discovery interested Eric Donovan, a University of Calgary professor, who knew that the discoverer’s assumption that Steve was a proton aurora wasn’t correct, since proton auroras are always invisible, being “typically too dark to be seen.” Donovan determined that “as [a] satellite flew straight though Steve, data from [an] electric field instrument showed very clear changes,” including an increase in temperature at an altitude of “300 km (186 miles) above the Earth’s surface.” The atmosphere heated up “by 3000 degrees Celsius (5432 degrees Fahrenheit) and . . . a 25 km-wide (15 mile) ribbon of gas [flowed] westwards at about 6 km/s compared to a speed of about 10 m/s either side of the ribbon.”

Steve wasn’t as rare as was first believed. In fact, Steve was “very common,” although the phenomenon “had gone unnoticed” before The Aurora Chasers spotted it. One of the amateur scientists who discovered Steve suggested that its name, as an acronym, perfectly describes its origin: “Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.” However, Donovan and his colleague Bea Gallardo-Lacour weren’t certain what accounts for Steve, although they planned to publish their findings after conducting additional research.

It’s a good thing that Donovan and Gallardo-Lacour didn’t commit prematurely to a theory of Steve’s origin, because their additional research revealed the fact that Steve is not an aurora, after all. Steve did not result from “showers of rain [from] the Earth’s upper atmosphere,” as auroras do. Instead, the phenomenon is “a kind of skyglow,” its source of origin unknown, which makes the light in the night sky “a new kind of optical phenomenon,” Donovan and Gallardo-Lacour concluded. Next, they plan to determine whether Steve owes its existence to events in the ionosphere or to those at a higher level of the Earth’s atmosphere.

8 Stormquakes

As their name suggests, stormquakes, a new geophysical phenomenon, are produced by the gigantic forces of the planet’s weather.

Hurricanes and other intense storms can cause vibrations in the floor of the ocean. These stormquakes are as powerful as those of a minor earthquake (3.5 on the Richter scale). Wenyuan Fuan, an assistant professor of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University, and his research team found that intense storms transfer some of their tremendous energy to Earth’s crust, or outer layer, by way of the powerful waves the storms generate. This energy, in turn, produces “intense seismic source activity” that can last from hours to days.

Fuan and his team found that over 10,000 stormquakes occurred in the ocean floor, along the edges of the planet’s continental shelves, off New England, Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and British Columbia.

7 Landfalling Droughts

Landfalling droughts begin at sea, but travel onto land, where they give rise to conditions even “larger and drier” than those cause by other types of drought. Their discovery gives meteorologists hope that they may be able to predict the approach of such droughts as surely as they do the day’s weather. Such predictions are likely, Stanford University scientists claim, which is good news, indeed, since one of every six of the droughts that occurred between 1981 and 2018 were landfalling droughts.

Droughts cause a host of problems, including crop failure, reductions in water supply, lower production of electricity, adverse effects regarding trade and the health of the ecosystem, population displacement, and losses of billions of dollars. The team’s discovery that landfalling droughts occur in regions characterized by “atmospheric pressure patterns” that elevate arid conditions could allow meteorologists to track them as they “migrate” toward land, which “usually take[s] . . . months,” thereby allowing “advance warning” that could permit some protection against the phenomena and their effects.

6 Surfactants’ Effects on Sea Spray

Another recently discovered meteorological phenomenon might allow forecasters to sound the alarm in advance of the arrival of hurricanes. An article by a research team associated with Nova Southeastern University’s Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center pinpoints two problems that impede hurricane predictions: the rapid rates at which these storms intensify and decline.

One of the paper’s authors, NSU Halmos College Ph.D. student Breanna Vanderplow, said that, when environmental conditions are favorable, surface-active biological materials, such as coral reefs, and surface-active anthropogenic materials, such as oil spills, can enlarge sea spray “distribution,” serving as a sort of “’fuel’ for hurricanes,” thus intensifying the storms and their effects.

Alexander Soloviev, Ph.D., a professor, and principal investigator at NSU’s Halmos College’s Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences, explained how biological and anthropogenic surfactants effect such changes in hurricanes: “Surfactants reduce interfacial tension between air and water, which results in an increased rate of sea spray generation. . . . Evaporating sea spray is part of tropical cyclone thermodynamics. Spray particles also produce additional resistance to the air-low since they increase the total surface exposed to the wind.”

Prior to the team’s discovery of the role that such surfactants play in the intensification of hurricanes, these materials were believed to affect only the thermodynamics of tropical cyclones. “Breanna has identified a new phenomenon which may contribute to improving hurricane intensity forecasts,” Soloviev said.

5 Solar Flare Phenomenon

Not all weather happens on Earth. Other planets have their share. Weather even occurs in space. Indeed, much of the solar system’s weather results from the sun’s energy.

The current 3-D model regarding solar flares suggests that such flares occur in “distorted” areas of the sun’s magnetic field. In these areas, the magnetic fields form loops that “slip and flip around each other,” reconnecting. As they do so, the fields create new magnetic structures, and magnetic energy increases until it is released, as the loops, or field lines, “straighten,” resuming their previous “lower energy states.”

The eruptions, known as Corona Mass Ejections (CMEs), discharge magnetic energy into space on a tremendous scale. Now that its creation is predictable, due to the verification of the 3-D model regarding solar flares, scientists’ ability to predict the occurrence of solar flares is likely to help protect technology, aircraft, satellites, infrastructure, and the Earth itself from the effects of highly destructive “space weather.”

In discussing the implications of the the understanding of the solar flare phenomenon, Dr. Jaroslav Dudik, a Royal Society Newton International Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Mathematical Sciences, summarized the benefits that such knowledge should bring: “Human civilisation is nowadays maintained by technology and that technology is vulnerable to space weather.”

4 Space Hurricanes

High above Earth’s polar regions, vortexes of plasma spin like hurricanes. But hurricanes, polar or otherwise, don’t occur only on Earth; they form over the solar system’s other planets as well and, indeed, across the universe.

As particles rise or fall, a low-pressure zone forms. Hurricanes tend to appear around these zones. Just as tropical storms form this way in the lower reaches of Earth’s atmosphere, so do space hurricanes gather around electrically charged particles in the ionosphere. Space hurricanes are a lot bigger than those on the Earth or the solar system’s other hurricanes, though; plasma whirling at a distance of hundreds of kilometers above the Earth’s North Pole has measured 1,000 kilometers, or 600 miles, across, and electrons, accelerating away from the plasma storms, hurtle toward the Earth, “enhancing the northern lights,” which themselves also “take a cyclonic shape.”

Scientists believe that a calm before the storm actually creates space hurricanes. When the Earth’s magnetosphere is relatively inactive, the planet’s magnetic field lines remain undisturbed, “funneling electrical particles from the solar wind . . . into the upper and middle atmosphere,” where the solar storms created by such funneling can interrupt satellite transmissions. At the same time, the “continuous flux” of solar particles gradually erodes technology, even when space weather is fairly calm.

3 Green Ghost

Transient luminous events are phenomena that occur above thunderstorms. Such events are known by exotic names, such as sprites, trolls, elves, and pixies. In 2020, Thomas Ashcraft discovered a new one: the Green Ghost. He videotaped two of them as they appeared in the sky above west Texas. Ashcraft also saw their origin: they “were generated by strong peak current lightning strokes.”

Aschcraft is one of the few who have witnessed the phenomenon, but he wasn’t the first to do so. That honor belongs to Hank Schyma, a Houston Texas, storm chaser whose handle is Pecos Hawk. As he reviewed footage he shot in Oklahoma, he saw “green afterglow above some of the larger sprites,” he said. When he and fellow storm chaser Paul M. Smith shared their video of the phenomenon with scientists, many of the experts argued that the phenomenon was nothing more than “a camera sensor artifact.” The scientists’ skepticism didn’t prevent Smith from photographing more ghosts, however, and more and more scientists became convinced that the Green Ghosts were real.

Although no one knows what causes the ghosts, their color may offer a clue, since auroras and airglow often display green colors as a result of the excitation of their oxygen molecules. The same cause may produce the colors of the Green Ghosts; hence their name. If nothing else, the unusual phenomenon suggests that the weather and its related effects remain mysterious, even after thousands of years of investigation.

2 Antimatter

Thunderstorms produce even more energy than we knew. In the mid-1990s, researchers discovered that lightning and the electrical fields above such storms produce gamma radiation that can be detected from space. These gamma-ray flashes (GRFs) occur across the Earth, as many as five-hundred times each day. And that’s not all thunderstorms produce. NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revealed other, until recently “undetected[,] phenomena”: tops of thunderstorms also produce antimatter beams!

The antimatter beams pack quite a wallop: 511 keV, the energy equivalent to “an electron-positron annihilation event.” According to scientists, when conditions are right, powerful electrical fields atop thunderstorms can produce an inverted “avalanche of electrons” which attains near-light speed. When these accelerated electrons “bounce off air molecules,” they release high-energy gamma rays, the TGFs, that can trigger the telescope’s sensors.

1 “A Whole Different Thing”

Saturn’s weather has produced an odd, but interesting, weather phenomenon: a Great White Spot that “raged near the planet’s north pole in 2018.” It’s the third type of storm astronomers have witnessed on the giant heavenly body. One of the other two types includes smaller storms of 2,000 kilometers (approximately 1,250 miles) across, which resemble “bright clouds” and last for a few days. The other known type, the planet’s Great White Spots, which are “10 times as large [as the smaller storms,] can rage for months.” The source of all three types of storms is the same, scientists believe: clouds of water “hundreds of kilometers below the planet’s upper cloud cover.”

The newly discovered type of Saturn’s storms remains something of a mystery. It is unknown how much lightning it generates or how it is formed, although some astronomers believe that it is a remnant of “a failed Great White Spot.” Planetary scientist Robert West isn’t convinced by this possible explanation, however. The gases in Saturn’s atmosphere, which are alleged to fuel the Great White Spots, tend not to mix, he says. The newly discovered type of storm isn’t likely to be a failed Great White Spot, as some of his colleagues believe, West said, but “a whole different thing,” the origin of which remains, for now, unknown.

Top 10 Crazy Stories Of Weather Modification

About The Author: An English instructor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Gary L. Pullman, a regular contributor to , lives south of Area 51, which, according to his family and friends, explains “a lot.” His five-book series, An Adventure of the Old West, is available on Amazon.

When thinking about extraordinary foods, most minds would conjure up images of obscure cuisine, and elaborate dishes with unpronounceable names. However, remarkable secrets lie hidden in foods we eat on a daily basis, with fascinating scientific explanations behind them. From nuts to fruits, to vegetables, here are 10 Bizarre Natural Phenomena in Everyday Foods.

10 Foods That Have Been Genetically Modified Beyond Recognition

10 Brazil Nuts

Anyone who has ever had a container of nuts has unknowingly witnessed a strange effect that no scientist has been able to fully explain. In nearly every package of nuts, the Brazil nuts will appear at the top, with the smaller nuts at the bottom. The same applies to cereal, with all the largest cereal at the top of the box and nothing but dusty shreds all the way at the bottom. But why? Common knowledge tells us that larger nuts would sink to the bottom, with smaller nuts rising to the top. Well, nobody quite knows. Dubbed the “Brazil Nut Effect” but more professionally known as “granular convection,” this phenomena has stumped experts for years. The concept refers to when various pieces of small, similar mass objects rotate in a way similar to how fluids move.^[2] The process a package of nuts goes through to get from the factory to the hands of a consumer requires lots of jostling.

When the nuts are all pushed upward, the smaller ones will fall below the larger ones, pushing them upward. This will repeat in a cycle because the nuts are continuously shaken around. However, the Brazil Nut Effect provides a slight wrinkle to this logic. See, the Brazil nuts will reach the top of the container and just stay there, thus ending the cycle. Scientists aren’t sure why they aren’t able to move from their position on top. Of course, many theories have been presented. Perhaps the nuts are too big to fit into any smaller spaces in the container after that shake, or perhaps the density of the nuts play a role in pushing it towards the surface. Either way, the science has applications beyond this nutty predicament (get it)? Dr. Douglas J. Jerolmack and his team have even found a link between this phenomenon and the reason why rivers can resist erosion, because rivers too have larger rocks near the top with sand and gravel further down in the river.^[2]

9 Cranberries

Nobody would think to compare an ordinary cranberry with a popular children’s toy, but there is a surprising similarity between the two. Though commonly cooked and softened in order to reduce the natural tartness of the fruit, a raw cranberry has a very different texture. When ripe, it will be able to bounce in the same fashion as a bouncy ball. This is due to the small air pockets inside of each cranberry, as well as the firm texture that allows it to bounce up off the ground. In fact, cranberry farmers even use this as a ripeness test for their berries. It is common for berry farmers to bounce each cranberry over a wooden barrier, where the berries that clear the barrier will go into circulation, while the ones that don’t, go into separate bins to become juice. Interestingly, this was discovered by accident, when an old farmer from New Jersey known as John “Peg Leg” Webb poured his supply of cranberries down the stairs. Due to his wooden leg, this was his best method of transporting them. However, he noticed that the more firm cranberries would bounce to the bottom, while the softer and more battered berries would sit limply at the top of the staircase. This discovery took place in 1880, and farmers have been using bounciness to test cranberry ripeness ever since.^[3]

8 Corn

Corn has been around for thousands of years, yet few realize that every ear of corn has a unique similarity about it. See, corn will always have an even number of rows. This is due to the fact that a corn ear is not just a vegetable, but an inflorescence, meaning that it produces nearly 1000 female flowers. These flowers, otherwise known as the future kernels, will be ordered into rows, forming the common image of an ear of corn. An average ear of corn has 800 kernels, organized into 16 rows. The even number comes from the fact that each spikelet (basic grass flower) will produce two florets, which are the small flowers that make up a full flower head. It will produce two because one floret must be fertile while the other must be sterile. Interestingly, this applies to foods other than corn. Watermelon, for example, supposedly has a consistently even number of stripes. No matter the case, this stems (no pun intended) from the fact that a cell will always divide into two cells that in turn each divide into two more cells. As this cycle continues, the number will always stay even. How odd!^[4]

7 Pistachios

Pistachios may seem innocent enough, but little did we know that they have a sinister side. That’s because pistachios, when stored in large quantities, are at high risk of spontaneously combusting. It is a known fact that fat burns very easily, and each pistachio nut is nearly 50% fat. Furthermore, pistachios have almost no water in them, and if they are kept in a high-moisture area, then they become moldy. With their total absence of water and a high concentration of fat, pistachios are at risk of becoming flammable. This risk turns into reality when pistachios are packed close together in large amounts, as the oils of the nuts can heat themselves up, causing them to burst into flames. Because they can self-heat, this pistachio-fueled nightmare can occur with no warning, with no human contact. This has led to many strict guidelines as to how pistachios are shipped, as most of the world pistachio production comes from the Middle East. This means that ships are required for transport, and nobody wants to see a boat burn down from improperly packaged nuts.^[5]

6 Nutmeg

Nutmeg is a spice most commonly used around the holidays, as a sweet garnish to drinks or an ingredient in desserts. However, just like the pistachio, there is a dark secret behind this festive spice. This is because nutmeg is really a hallucinogen, capable of causing powerful highs and unpleasant side effects. Sudden bursts of panic, trouble urinating, and constantly dry mouth are just a few consequences of the hallucinogenic trip. Nutmeg itself is actually a seed, and it contains a compound known as myristicin. Myristicin is used in many drugs that are used to affect mental state, and it is the reason why nutmeg produces hallucinogenic effects.

Though this may shock all of us, it wouldn’t have surprised anyone in 12th century Europe. Back then, it was considered a drug rather than a garnish, and people would use it frequently in order to induce hallucinations. It is even believed that famous physician Nostradamus ingested nutmeg in order to gain visions that led to his scientific discoveries. Nutmeg remained a popular drug for years to come, but somewhere along the way its status shifted into the innocent spice, we know it as today.^[6]

10 Bizarre Origin Stories About Your Favorite Foods

5 Mushrooms

There is often a fine line between a food being undercooked, overcooked or cooked to perfection. Luckily, for those of us who can’t easily navigate this line, there is one risk-free ingredient that we can use: The mushroom. You see, it is close to impossible to overcook a mushroom because their cell walls have a different molecular structure than that of meat or vegetables. While the cell walls in meat and vegetables contain protein and pectin respectively, the mushroom contains a polymer called chitin. Chitin is extremely heat stable, which means that when it is cooked, the heat has little effect on the molecular structure of the mushroom. This is different than meats and other veggies, because heat causes proteins in the meat to tense up (causing overcooked meat to be chewy) and it causes pectins in vegetable cells to break down; resulting in a mushy clump of green.

In an attempt to scientifically prove this phenomenon, Dan Souza, the executive editor of America’s Test Kitchen put mushrooms to the test once and for all. Souza took a mushroom, a piece of zucchini, and a hunk of beef tenderloin, and steamed them all for forty minutes. Every five minutes he put each item through a texture analysis that calculated the amount of force that would be required to bite into the said item. Not very surprisingly, the mushroom outperformed its competitors by remaining within 100 grams of force to bite into throughout the whole testing period. In comparison, the tenderloin shot up 500 grams of force and the zucchini went down almost 200. In other words, the mushroom remained texturally consistent while the tenderloin became tough and the zucchini became limp and chewy.^[7]

4 Chili Peppers

With a quarter of the world’s population eating chili peppers on a daily basis, it is clear that many people enjoy the jolt of spiciness that has become the trademark of these peppers. While people around the world have chosen to embrace the chili pepper and feel the burn, few people have stopped to wonder the cause of this sensation in the first place. All chili peppers contain an active ingredient called capsaicin, which activates the heat-sensing protein in our brains when bitten into. When the protein senses heat, it causes the brain to send a shot of burning pain to the pepper eater. This means that peppers are tricking our brains into feeling a burning sensation since we will not actually be burned from eating a pepper. Scientists have determined that pepper plants actually evolved this way in order to keep predators from eating their fruit. Interestingly, birds do not feel any burn when eating peppers, and peppers actually evolved this way on purpose. This is because unlike mammals, birds eat pepper seeds whole, so when they excrete these seeds, they spread the pepper plant and ensure its survival.^[8]

3 Rhubarb

The rhubarb is a perennial plant that is similar to celery, but it is commonly classified as a fruit due to its sour and fruity taste. Stuck in between these two categories, the rhubarb seems to be somewhat ignored in society, with the more traditional apple or broccoli thrust into the limelight. However, there is a unique phenomenon that occurs with the humble rhubarb plant, and it has to do with the way that it is grown. You see, since the 1800s, rhubarb farmers have harvested these veggie/fruits in a method called “forced rhubarb.” In this method, rhubarbs are grown in the dark, which causes them to mature at an alarmingly rapid rate. When rhubarbs grow this fast, it causes them to make a loud popping noise as they burst out of their initial buds and begin to grow upward. As they continue to rise, they begin to rub against other rhubarb stalks, which creates an interesting squeaking and creaking noise. Rhubarb farmer Brian French says about the noise, “I have heard the noise before. Growing against each other. You really have to listen for it.” The reason behind this musical method of rhubarb growing is that the dark room makes rhubarb plants unable to photosynthesize, which results in a less stringy and more tender rhubarb. You can listen to the sound of rhubarb growing here.^[9]

2 Cashews

Of all the nuts on this list, cashews have perhaps the strangest trait of all. When asked what grows on a cashew tree, most would probably assume that it would be, well, cashews. Though that is correct, the nut is actually not the primary fruit of a cashew tree. Native to the coastal areas of northern Brazil, cashew trees actually grow apples. The actual nuts sprout from the bottom of each apple. Most of us have likely never heard of a cashew apple, or seen them being sold anywhere. This is because, though they are perfectly safe, the thick skin of cashew apples make them difficult to transport. Cashew apples don’t go to waste though; the pulp is frequently used in juices and other apple-related foods. Even more surprising is the fact that the cashew “nut” is technically not a nut at all, but a seed. The cashew seed is covered by many highly toxic layers in order to scare animals away. Don’t panic, though, because only the shell is toxic. Any pack of cashews bought from a store will not have the shell, thus making them perfectly safe for consumption.^[10]

1 Carrots

Carrots have become almost synonymous with the color orange, but carrots did not always have this distinctive hue. Originally, carrots were actually purple, but a mutant gene spread among these plants led to the creation of the yellow carrot. The transition from the harvesting of purple and yellow carrots to orange carrots is a bizarre and interesting tale. The origin of orange carrots began in the town of Arausio in Southern France. The classical pronunciation of this town was “Aurenja”, and with the French word for orange being naranj, the citizens of Arausio eventually changed the town’s name to Orange. A man named William The Silent gained rule over Orange in 1544 and was from then on known as William The Orange. After gaining rule of Arausio, William The Orange went on to lead the Dutch to their independence from Spain, thus creating the Dutch Republic.

At the same time as this revolution, another revolution was taking place. A carrot revolution. Around the time of the Dutch independence, a carrot breed was created by Dutch carrot farmers that contained a plant pigment called beta-carotene. This pigment caused an orange color in the carrot, and the Danish people began mass producing it in honor of their hero William The Orange. It got to the point where the other colors of carrots became no longer convenient to grow, which led us to the orange carrot that we know and love.^[11]

10 Fruits, Nuts, And Vegetables You Did Not Know Were Man-Made

The biggest problem with “providing proof” of paranormal beings and incidents is the lack of clearly visible photographs or video footage. Ever since the shaky Patterson-Gimlin footage depicting an alleged Bigfoot started making the rounds, the world has been inundated with blurry photos and out-of-focus footage of ghosts, Nessie, aliens, and demons.

Even in our ultra-modern times, spooky social media posts and conversations about the paranormal on online forums have the ability to divide people. There are those who staunchly believe that any and all captured footage must be legit, and then there are those who refuse to be convinced, no matter what is presented to them.

Related: 10 Strange But Interesting Early Photography Fads

10 Faces in the Water

In December 1924, James Courtney and Michael Meehan, crewmen on the oil tanker SS Watertown, were given the task of cleaning an empty cargo tank. A freak accident during the cleaning saw both men being overcome with gas fumes. Chief mate Kosti Taviola realized the men were in trouble and did his best to save them. Unfortunately, by the time he reached them, they were already dead. Taviola, too, was overcome by the fumes but was revived 30 minutes later.

As was the custom, Courtney and Meehan were given a sea burial, and the SS Watertown continued on its journey towards the Panama Canal. However, the remaining crew members soon started to report seeing something strange in the water. Upon closer inspection, the shocked crew realized they were staring at the faces of the two dead sailors. For several days, the faces appeared and bobbed in the water as the ship continued moving along. The captain of the oil tanker, Keith Tracy, snapped a now-infamous photograph as “proof” of the incidents.

While most people are convinced that this photograph is part of an elaborate hoax, there are many who believe that the spirits of the dead men kept watch over the oil tanker until it reached its destination.^[1]

9 Angel, Demon, or…Palm Tree?

Ghostly images often go viral on social media. This was the case with an admittedly creepy photograph posted by Richard Christianson, who snapped the picture in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 1, 2017. He captioned it, “What the hell do you see in this picture for reals??? Anybody”

The photo depicts something that looks like an evil angel roaming an empty street. In the comments however, people were warring about whether it was an angel or a demon. Some were even arguing that it was evidence of the elusive Mothman. A few voices of logic tried to speak up, saying that it was clearly a palm tree, but they were overpowered by those who feared that supernatural beings were roaming around Phoenix.

A couple of commenters sniffed around Christianson’s profile and discovered that he made a living out of being a stagehand.^[2]

Can anyone say prop?

8 Is That You, Freddy?

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Victor Goddard, an Air Marshal in the Royal Air Force, was no stranger to the realm of the paranormal. He claimed to have had a clairvoyant episode in 1935, during which he saw what the abandoned Drem Airfield would look like in 1939.

Long before that, however, Goddard was present when a photograph of the so-called “Goddard Squadron” was taken in November 1918. The photo of the large group of servicemen was snapped at a training facility known as HMS Daedalus. When it was developed, Goddard spotted the ghostly image of a face half-hidden behind the fourth airman from the left. The man was the only one in the photo who was not wearing a cap and was identified as air mechanic Freddy Jackson.

The kicker, however, is that Freddy allegedly died three days before the photo was snapped—after he walked into the whirling propeller of a plane. Research has revealed that a Freddy Jackson did indeed work as an air mechanic for the RAF and that he died in April 1918, which would have been seven months before the photograph was taken.^[3]

7 “Your Government Is Lying to You”

In 2011, a video purporting to show a dead alien found in a “UFO hotspot” in Russia made huge waves on the internet. Within a week, the footage had been watched by over one million people. A message that appeared on the YouTube video stating, “Your government is lying to you about UFO & alien visitation,” gave many viewers chills.

But many tore the video apart, saying it was clear that the alien was a rubber doll and that the “discovery” had been staged. The lack of a spacecraft and the “posed” position of the alien had thousands convinced that the two Russian men who supposedly happened upon the dead creature had planned the entire thing.

Once again, however, there are also many people who believe that the video and images of the alien are 100% legit and that they serve as evidence of extra-terrestrial life.^[4]

6 A Strange Beast

In 2018, yet another blurry photograph and short video were captured of a monster…camel. The creature was photographed roaming the streets of Santa Fe, Argentina, and was blamed for killing a German shepherd and a pitbull. Joining the tales of the Yeti, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster, this small-headed, long-necked beast has been described as being half animal and half human.

The over 30 000 commenters on the video mostly expressed their fear that the camel-like creature could be real, while one commented that he’d come across a similar-looking beast in 2005. Another viewer claimed that it could have been a man that had turned into a monster dog, while yet another stated that he’d believed the beast to be a Chupacabra, which forms a major part of Latin folklore.^[5]

5 Watching Over You

In 2016, a woman named Lynda sent a historical photograph to Belfast Live. She noted that her grandmother, Ellen Donnelly, was one of the 15 women in the photo. The women were all linen mill workers in Northern Ireland and seemed happy and relaxed while getting their photograph taken in 1900.

Much like the Freddy Jackson photo, however, there is something strange about this one too. On the shoulder of the first girl on the right, in the second row, rests what seems to be a disembodied hand. The girl is Lynda’s grandmother.

Everyone surrounding the girl has their arms crossed, so the mystery of the hand remains. Is it a hoax? Highly likely. Has it been confirmed as a hoax? Not yet.^[6]

4 The Unexplained UFOs of Salem

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Salem, Massachusetts, has a dark enough history without unexplained flying objects darting around in the sky above it.

On August 3, 1952, Shel Alpert spotted four glowing objects in the morning skies brightening up the city of Salem. Mesmerized, he snapped a photo of what he saw, and the result was a photo that disturbs people to this day. The objects hovered over Winter Island and Cat Cove, and the photograph was taken from the Salem Coast Guard Air Station.

There isn’t much more information about this photograph, other than people stating that the UFOs were probably just the reflections of the window through which the photo was taken. Some, however, were convinced that this image depicted alien crafts, in line with several others that were taken throughout the 1950s.^[7]

3 The Flying Dutchman of Lake Superior

Photo: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ghost-ship-spotted-on-lake-superior/
In 2016, Jason Asselin was shooting a music video along the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan. After a full day of work, Asselin and his crew enjoyed the sunset, with Asselin filming a rainbow that had formed over the lake. To his surprise, he saw something shimmer in the distance and soon realized he was looking at what seemed to be a massive “ghost ship.”

With a history that includes more than 200 shipwrecks in the Lake Superior area alone, it made sense to many people that a ghost ship would appear on the horizon. Many even claimed to have seen the ghosts of sailors off the coast of Whitefish Point after the 1975 Edmund Fitzgerald sinking.

But scientists are not convinced. Associate professor of psychology, Mark Becker, said that the sighting was likely just the Granite Island lighthouse shimmering in the setting sun.^[8]

2 The Nun Who Can’t Let Go

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

In 2021, a Reddit user, who works as a real estate photographer, posted a blurry image on the popular platform and claimed that he’d taken the photo outside a house in Tennessee that was once a Civil War army hospital. He further claimed to have been warned by the homeowner that the house was haunted.

As for the image itself, it seems to show an indeterminable figure standing in between the trees that surround the house. The man stated that he’d been told patients would have been operated on inside the hospital and moved out to the field (where the figure was snapped) to die inside makeshift tents.

But not everyone is on board with the idea that the figure is that of a Civil War ghost (or nun) who likes living in the past and doesn’t want to move on. Most of the comments on the post mocked the user, saying that the figure could be anything from a garden statue to a bird to a plastic bag stuck on the fence.^[9]

1 The Little Girl Visiting Her Own Grave

Saundra Gonzales often placed toys and other small belongings at the grave of her deceased two-year-old toddler, Faviola, in 2020. One morning she noticed that some of the items had gone missing overnight. She requested other families visiting the Masonic Cemetery in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior as she believed a thief to be responsible for the disappearance of the items.

What she didn’t know, however, was that another family whose son’s grave was near Faviola’s had set up a camera in the hopes of catching the person vandalizing their beloved child’s grave. They didn’t see any vandalism, but what they did capture was the footage of a small girl walking over to the grave and bending over to have a look at the items placed there. The family showed the video to a cemetery worker who recognized the girl and immediately called Saundra.

Saundra burst into tears when she was shown the video, saying that it was Faviola standing there. In one of the images taken from the video, the girl seems to be holding the hand of a tall man, who is claimed by the family who gathered the footage to be their murdered son.

While Saundra fully believes that the images portray the spirit of her daughter, others are of the opinion that someone has let their own child into the cemetery and allowed her to take the toys from Faviola’s grave.^[10]

Nearly every ancient polytheistic culture had gods of the weather. Most of us are aware of Thor, the god of thunder, but there were gods of the wind and rain and lightning and more throughout North and South America, Africa and Asia. Weather has always fascinated and confused mankind. And even today, when we can explain it all with science rather than the whims of all-powerful beings, there are still phenomena that pop up every so often to baffle the best of us, some of it not strictly weather at all.  So with that in mind, let’s check out 10 of the freakiest weather phenomena in the world.

10. The Kentucky Meat Shower

Rest assured, it does not routinely rain meat anywhere in Kentucky. But that doesn’t mean it never happened. And when you learn the whole story, you’ll wish it just was meat rain because that’s far less disgusting than the truth of this perplexing event.

There was a day back in 1876 when the people of Olympia Springs were treated to a show of meat from the heavens that was said to be fairly substantial in size. One witness described it as a “horse wagon full” which was not a literal measurement, just an 1876 way of saying “a lot.” It covered a space 100 yards by 50 yards. 

So the people came out to see the meat, which fell in small chunks and scraps. A few brave and/or foolish souls opted to taste test the meat as well to see if they could figure out what it was. 

The meat was sent for analysis and while most locals lost interest, one scientist did come up with an explanation. The meat was from vultures. Which is to say they ate it and then, as they took flight, they vomited it across the town. 

Turns out vultures, when panicked, will throw up everywhere. This makes them lighter and allows for a quicker getaway. Based on the condition of the meat, the theory fits the details. 

9. Watermelon Snow

Watermelon snow sounds like it should be delicious, but we recommend not putting it in your mouth should you ever see it. It’s less of a tasty, refreshing treat than it is snow laced with algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis. Unlike most algae, which is happy to grow in stagnant water or ponds, this kind just likes snow. And while technically you can survive eating small quantities of it, you’ll probably get diarrhea for your troubles. 

It’s usually what’s known as a summer snow algae, meaning it flourishes in snow that stays in high altitude places into the summer months when lower altitude regions are enjoying warmer weather. It forms reddish pink streaks or pockets through the snow that can be mistaken for blood. The red part actually protects the algae from UV radiation.

8. Star Jelly

There’s a good chance you could market a product called Star Jelly as a breakfast food, but that’s neither here nor there. In real life, star jelly owes its origins to a potential cornucopia of sources thanks to the fact humans tend to lump mysterious slime all into the same category. 

While folklore suggested it fell from the sky (hence the name), the fact is star jelly may come from numerous places and some of it could potentially be dangerous. It may be as simple as the oviducts of frogs or gelatinous, aquatic Bryozoa clustered together. Some times of fungus may form into jelly-like clusters, especially if they’re rotting, and even slime molds fit the bill.

7. Atmospheric Rivers and Lakes

A relatively new discovery, atmospheric lakes and rivers are very much like what they sound like. The concept of atmospheric rivers is a little older than lakes and they are pretty remarkable. Able to reach lengths of 1000 miles while stretching 400 miles across, an atmospheric river is a stream of water vapor in the atmosphere that can dump a heck of a lot of water when they come down. Up to the equivalent of 25 Mississippi rivers. If that’s a little too intense for you, then there’s the more recently discovered atmospheric lake. 

Similar to an atmospheric river but not as fast moving, an atmospheric lake is a vast pool of water vapor in the clouds. It is, in effect, a lake in the sky. Unlike the river, which sounds very intense, an atmospheric lake discovered over the Indian Ocean was believed to have enough water held within it to create a puddle 620 miles wide, but only a couple of inches deep. They move in areas with almost no wind at all and form in equatorial regions near coastal areas. They can also last nearly a week as they slowly float along, bringing rains to often very dry and arid places.

6. Sun Dogs

Anything with a name like a sun dog has to be at least a little bit cool and luckily this rare phenomenon really is. You have to be very lucky to find a sun dog as conditions need to be exact. The right angle is needed, in this case 22 degrees. There have to be ice crystals in the atmosphere inside of cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. If the clouds and you, the viewer, are in the right position, then what you get is a sun dog or mock sun.

The effect of a sun dog is that the sun looks to be surrounded by a massive halo of light and, on either side of it at the halo’s edge, another sun is visible. Depending on how it’s viewed, they can appear to have spikes or coronas coming off of them.  So three suns together, with the other two often appearing a little smaller than the actual sun overall.

5. Condo Fog

Man made climate change is a hotly debated topic these days, but if you still weren’t sure that humans can affect the weather, then take a look at condo fog for the most visual example of this that you’ll ever find. 

Famously occurring in Panama City, Florida, condo fog is what happens when hot, moist air hits a man-made wall of condominiums. It rolls in off the Gulf of Mexico and then, breaking against the wall of apartments, it rises into the air and cools down, creating a wave of white fog. 

Air cools by about one degree celsius for every 100 meters of altitude it gains. The condos forced the air up about 50 meters to get past them, but that half degree temperature drop was enough to make it condense into clouds. Once it hurdles the building, the temperature changes back and the clouds evaporate, leaving the condos and just the condos enshrouded in mist. 

Though it’s interesting to see it happening over buildings, it’s very similar to the phenomenon that leaves mountain peaks covered in fog as well. We just accept it as more normal when we see it on mountains and not buildings along the coast. 

4. Steam Devils

A dust devil is what happens when a patch of dry ground heats up more than the ground around it and the rising air begins to circulate like a sort of weak tornado, bringing the dust up off the ground with it. It’s not the most common phenomena but many of us have at least heard of it. It’s not the only weather devil out there, though. The much rarer but equally stygian steam devil is in some ways the opposite of its dusty cousin, occurring over bodies of water or damp ground rather than dusty patches of land. They’ve been observed forming on frosty grass when the sun hits it and begins to warm the frozen surface to create the temperature difference needed. 

Like a dust devil, it’s formed when conflicting air temperatures create a vortex. In this case, the water on which a steam devil forms is typically warm when a blast of colder air reaches it. The warm, moist air from the water rises into the cold air and begins to rotate, drawing up water vapor from below. They usually don’t grow very tall, often just a couple of meters in height. 

3. Lluvia de Pecas

Animal rain is a weird phenomenon to be sure, but there’s so many articles on it these days that it’s easy to stumble on explanations. Typically, the reason things like fish and frogs fall from the sky is related to waterspouts sucking animals out of a body of water and displacing them elsewhere or just flash floods, making it look like they fell after a storm. But the fish rain known as lluvia de pecas in Yoro, Honduras, works a little differently.

Yoro has the distinction of enjoying regular fish rain. It happens once or twice a year and has been witnessed by teams from places like National Geographic. Or, at least, in part it has. They couldn’t confirm the fish falling from the sky, but they did see fish on the ground. 

The small, silvery fish that appear are not a local species. They also appear to be blind. That has led some to speculate that they populate an underground river and, during particularly violent storms, they are forced to the surface during floods and left on the ground. This would account for why they are always in the same place rather than all over, such as if a waterspout was depositing them.

2. Blackbird Shower

History is riddled with tales of animals falling from the sky. The lluvia de pecas is just one example of many. It rains frogs and also tadpoles. Spiders have been known to fall like rain and maggots, too. And in 2022, hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds fell from the sky over Chihuahua, Mexico. 

Unlike many of the animal rain events that have happened in the past, the blackbird incident was caught on camera, so you can see it happen firsthand and it’s pretty dramatic. The birds crash like someone dropped them by the bucket load and sadly, many of them didn’t survive the fall. But why did it happen in the first place? Frogs at least have an excuse for falling when they get up into the air, but birds can fly. 

Though it’s just a theory, the most plausible explanation seems to be that the birds were “flushed,” which is to say a large, predatory bird likely swooped at the flock and, in a panic, they all dove as fast as their little wings could carry them. The result was an ill-timed escape that saw too many hit the ground too fast.

1. The Chi’yang Event 

Weather can be terrifying and deadly. It’s said that the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people. In 1970, the Bhola cyclone may have killed as many as 500,000 people. Around 20 people per year are killed by lightning in the United States. And a few people have even been killed by hail. But what about some other devastation from the sky? How deadly is it when it rains fire?

In the year 1490, the people of Ch’ing-yang, China, were witness to what is now believed to be an exploding asteroid. At the time, however, it was considered a rain of rocks peppering the countryside with death and destruction.

It’s believed at least 10,000 people died in the event. The stones that fell were said to weigh between 1 and 1.5 kilograms. In more understandable terms, some were supposed to be the size of water chestnuts while others were the size of goose eggs. But they were also falling from space and their speed must have been incredible.

Historical reports of the incident are considered to be reliable and there is precedent for objects breaking into many thousands of pieces, which could explain the death toll if it happened in a populated area.