I know, I know, we thought it was weird for the Pope to be in Australia as well. Wait a minute, that’s no Pope. That’s no Pope at all. That’s just a wily man protesting the Pope’s visit during World Youth Day. Charges were dropped earlier this week against Ian Bryce, the perpetrator of the hoax, who took to the streets of Sydney in his makeshift Pope Mobile to protest the Pontiff’s arrival. He had been formally charged with distracting motorists on the day of his protest, so we’re sure that all of you out there who were rooting for Ian will be most pleased to hear the court’s decision.

Our beloved Michael Jackson is making his re-debut into the world of pop in London in July. Understandably, Jacko is concerned about ghosts and spirits possibly throwing his game off in the days leading up to his big comeback. So he recently pulled out of a deal to rent an 18th Century Foxbury Mansion in Kent because it is reportedly haunted. A video of the mansion and its haunted past made by Jackson’s aides prompted him to cancel his rental that he had already sunk nearly a million pounds into. But hey, when you don’t want ghosts to scare the children, what else are you going to do? Strange, Jackson looks positively thrilled with ghosts and ghouls in the above photo.

The origins of this video are confusing, apparently it has been making the rounds in Russia as a real sighting of Bigfoot somewhere in the English speaking world. Experts have determined this video to be a hoax. What do you make of it?

Picture of Holton House Bead and Breakfast, the most haunted building in Kansas.

We know you Kansans have been waiting, and finally the Top 5 Most Haunted Places in Kansas have been announced! And unsurprisingly a former mortuary tops the list. Here are the results:

1. Holton House Bed and Breakfast- Holton
2. Constitution Hall- Topeka
3. St. Mary’s Church- Kansas City
4. Hotel Josephine- Holton
5. Holton Country Club- Holton

Hotels, Churches and Old Buildings, just like everywhere else. Now we’re expecting a lot of good investigations and pictures from you Middle of the Country folk, so get hunting. To find the original post on Ghost Tours of Kansas’ website click here.

For those of you who haven’t heard of the Bunyip, it’s Australia’s folklore equivalent of Bigfoot. Aborigine myth tells of a large, furry, wetlands creature that was described as “demon” or “devil” in their native tongue. When western settlers came to colonize Australia, the legend of the Bunyip grew to much larger proportions, but there has still never been a single confirmed sighting of the cryptid.

Mike Conley from McDowell News has suggested that a now extinct marsupial, called the Diprotodon, might hold the key to the mystery.

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Image Credit: Twinmama

Not one, but two paranormal conventions took place this last week in Salem, MA. The above photo shows serious paranormal enthusiasts and convention goers enjoying each others company (not really). Both Ghostock 7 and Witch School International’s “Three days of Wicca, Witchcraft and High Ritual” wrapped up a week long bout of investigating, speaking and witching it up. The town of Salem, which usually has no paranormal convention going on at any given time, had a perfect storm of conventions and doubled its paranormal population for the week.

The depraved Neural Interface Technology researchers at University of Wisconsin Madison have unleashed a device of unspeakable evil. Just to clarify: We think direct brain/computer interfaces are nifty and are important science. But with great power comes great responsibility. We must use these tools to aid the forces of good in this world. And when you take a technology so cool and important and then use it to breach all standards of human decency, good women and men everywhere need to make a stand.

-Find out what is so heinous about twitter AFTER THE JUMP….

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photo credit: mahesh_f

A species of tyrannosaur discovered in Western China in recent days stands up as tall as an average human, much smaller than its more recent and well known descendant T-rex. Cooler still, Xiongguanlong baimoensis, is an intermediate species between smaller ancestors and the massive man eating beast we all know and love:

So, the meat-eating biped also fills the size gap that accompanies the time gap in the fossil record, falling between small ancestors such as Guanlong wucaii — a lithe, half-meter–high creature that lived about 160 million years ago — and multiton behemoths such as Tyrannosaurus rex, which stood about 4 meters tall at the hips and lived between 68 million and 65 million years ago.

-Check out the whole article at Science News.

We know what you’re thinking. Is that a massive Native American wearing headphones or a natural geographic feature created by soil erosion? Weirdthings.com investigated, and after a little plinking around on the internet, we were gravely disappointed to find that it was the latter. Located near appropriately titled ‘Medicine Hat’, Canada, this large physical depression is called the Badlands Guardian.

For years it was famous to locals for appearing to be a Native American from the air. Then an oil well and road were built and made the Badlands Guardian a modern man with the gift of nifty iPod headphones. Lynn Hickox originally discovered the site, then local radio broadcasters had the community vote on what the apparent figure would be called. I think the people of Alberta chose right. Badlands guardian is a bad ass name.

We’d like to think that the aliens got bored with crop circles and decided to get a little more artistic.

The classic dead Bigfoot photo above first appeared on Cryptomundo in 2006. Now artist David Lowe has created a series of photoshopped images depicting how the image was created. Needless to say, the featured cryptid never did exist. Check out this great piece of critical thinking at Cryptomundo.com.

Mr. Barnabas Kazibwe Mutume: Purported Faith Healer
Image Credit: MICHAEL J. SSALI

You’d think the Catholic Church would be more supportive of its faith healing clergy members. A couple of days ago, Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa of Masaka, Uganda, suspended local Sacristan Mr. Barnabas Kazibwe Mutume from his priestly duties. Why? Because of his purported ability to heal the sick and downtrodden with prayer. News of Mutume’s miraculous healing powers has spread by word of mouth, causing those in need of medical attention to try out spiritual healing in desperation. And thousands of all denominations have flocked to his makeshift church to be healed.

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The Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society, founded by Alison Smith, has been hunting ghosts since 1996. Is this video proof of a ghostly specter, or an effective demonstration of how we often misinterpret everyday occurrences as fantastic and paranormal?

-Hint: It’s the latter.

While we’re still on the subject of the earthquake, more Italian weirdness has come of it. 15,000 year old caves, once used by local inhabitants, have been found under the City of L’Aquila, near the epicenter of the quake. The largest of the vaulted caves was found near the bus terminal of the regional capital, where the sediment shook loose to reveal the ancient cavern. Archeologists are abuzz over the new ruins.

-Read the original article here.

The object in this video is a purported UFO spotted in the hours leading up to, and just after the major earthquakes in Italy on April 6th. Mr. Antonio Urzi spotted the craft moving over Milan and took the above footage.

The people over at naturalplane blog believe that a UFO sightings in the vicinity of a natural disaster might be more than just coincidence.

Pilgrims have been flocking to the small, Central Mexican town Muñoz de Domingo Arenas to witness a reported miracle at a burger shack. But are the fries really just that good, or is there an apparition of Jesus reflected in the glass window of the building? You guessed it, it’s the latter. We think the below quote from the Latin American Herald sums it up nicely:

“The image can only be seen at night because it is produced by the reflection cast by a lamp of a post and the shadow of a tree, said the daily Reforma, which published a photo of the place with the image and the pilgrims in front of it… Meanwhile, hamburgers and hot-dog sales have boomed thanks to the faithful flocking in.”

It makes good sense from a practical viewpoint to have a miracle at a burger joint. If you want your spiritual and stomach needed sated in one go, but don’t have the time or money to go see Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, then Muñoz de Domingo Arenas is the place for you.

Lake Kanas is China’s deepest freshwater lake. It is also home to Chinese equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster. The video above shows a scene of something moving quite quickly over the surface of the water. It’s not really clear what it is, but this video is just about as compelling any video evidence that has ever been put forward supporting the existence of Nessie (i.e. Not very). Check it out and let us know what you think.

Aerial photo of Lake Kanas