Welcome to issue 9 of isle of wéired news – bringing you the weirdest news from around the world.
Scotland features heavily in this issue: we have the welcome return of Nessie; phantom black cat sightings; and possible clues to the identity of the Calvine UFO photographer. We also have phantom cat sightings from Wales; a theory on hauntings from Canada; and witchcraft reports from Malawi, Zambia and Zululand.
Enjoy!
A Celtic Big Cat
On the evening of Friday, 17 April, John Kirk and his wife spotted a big cat as they were driving into Grantown-on-Spey in Scotland.
“We came off the roundabout, heading into Grantown, just coming up to the cemetery, and something flashed across the road at a great rate of knots,” John said.
“It was bigger than my collie. It would have been sitting about two feet high, long tail. It was definitely a cat.”
After going public with his sighting on social media, John says a number of other witnesses came forward.
“I put it on Facebook just to see what sort of crack would be with it and to see if anybody else had seen it. And the response has been absolutely unbelievable. The amount of folk that have seen it around the town, and I know folk personally who have seen it.”
Paul Macdonald, who runs Scottish Big Cat research, believes the cat could be a Kellas cat. Named after the village where they were first reported, Kellas cats are a cross between domestic cats and wild cats.
“They can be quite similar to a wildcat,” says Macdonald. “They are jet black or uniform grey. Kellas cats can be as small as a large domestic cat or as big as three or four feet in length.”
John Kirk is certain he saw some kind of big cat that night.
“There has to be something there because, you know, it’s not something you’d exaggerate on. If you do, you’re a fool,” he said.
“It did cross the road in front of me. I know what I saw, that’s for sure.”
Source(s): The Herald, 22 April 2026; BBC News Online, 26 April 2026
Another Celtic Big Cat
Scotland isn’t the only place reporting black cat sightings. On the evening of 14 March, a Welsh mother and daughter had a terrifying encounter with one while they were walking in Trefill Quarry, in the South Wales valleys.
It began when they saw sheep being chased by the animal. Eventually, it took down one of the sheep by the neck.
But when the cat realised it had an audience – it turned its attention to the mother and daughter. “It ran three metres up the hill – still very low to the ground,” said Nicola, the mother. “It stopped and started to watch us.”
The women kept on walking – and the cat kept on following. “We started to walk back to the car,” said Nicola. “Now it was starting to get dark but we could still see it. It stalked us all the way back to the car.
According to Puma Watch, a number of similar sightings have been made across Wales in recent weeks.
Source(s): Caernarfon Herald, 22 April 2026
Nessie’s Back!
At 10.30 am on 1 March, American tourist Tony Inhorn claims to have spotted the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, near the opening for the Caledonian Canal. It’s the first sighting since October 2025.
This is Inhorn’s account:
“I saw the dark-greenish grey body of what appeared to be Nessie emerge from the water. She came about two feet out of the water and her exposed portion was about 5 – 10 feet in length, suggesting it was just her very top.
“She was about 15 feet from the boat I was on. Nessie appeared for about 5 seconds, then tipped back into the water.
“Her body emerged against the chop of the surf, but appeared clearly defined against the waves, leading me to believe it wasn’t just the current.”
A few days later, there was another possible sighting of Nessie, this time via the Visit Inverness Loch Ness webcam.
At about 5.20 pm on 5 March, Eoin Fagan says he saw a “mysterious movement and shape” on the loch. The mysterious shape moved against the current and broke the surface a number of times.
In other Nessie news, an underwater drone called Micro Millie is due to carry out a survey of Nessie’s environment.
It’s scheduled for 28 – 30 May, and Millie will focus on Urquhart Bay, where a number of Nessie sightings have been made over the last few years.
The survey is being organised by The Loch Ness Experience.
Source(s): Metro, 15 April 2026; Daily Star, 24 April 2026
Witchdoctor: Judge, Jury and Executioner
On 8 April, in the village of Malemba in Chifinabuli, a district in the province of Luapula, Zambia, two people died after drinking a concoction given to them by a witchdoctor.
“I can confirm that two people have died after a witchdoctor from Samfya gave them an unknown substance to drink in a bottle and another substance believed to be anointed water after family members suspected them to be wizards,” said Luapula Province Police Commissioner, Godfrey Mwanza.
The victims – 70 year old Chitalmine Chipulu and 67 year old Thomson Chinyanta – were village leaders.
Reportedly, after a number of mysterious deaths in the village, the services of a witchdoctor were sought. And on 8 April, before the rest of the village, Chipulu and Chinyanta, along with two others, were given a concoction to drink by the witchdoctor.
Later that night, Chipulu and Chinyanta died.
According to Mwanza, no arrests have been made – and the villagers have refused to reveal the identity of the witchdoctor.
Source(s): Daily Nation, 12 April 2026
Witchcraft Accusations and Murder in Malawi
On 13 April, in Chikonkha, a village in the Dowa district of Malawi, Positani Kachipewa was killed by his nephew, Rodwell Nduna.
Kachipewa had been accused of practicing witchcraft by a number of his family members – including Nduna.
According to Alice Sitima, spokesperson for Dowa Police Station: “On the day of the incident, Nduna confronted his uncle at his home, where he produced a hammer and struck him on the head several times, leaving him unconscious before fleeing the scene.”
Kachipewa was rushed to Dowa District Hospital – but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Malawi introduced the Older Persons Act of 2024 to help protect older people – and to prevent incidents such as this one.
However, Kachipewa is the twelfth elderly person this year to be killed in Malawi following an accusation of witchcraft. And there have been over 300 of these killings in Malawi since 2015.
Source(s): The Daily Times, 13 & 16 April 2026
Drowned Goat is a Bad Sign
On 13 April, a dead goat was found floating outside a luxury waterfront apartment in Zululand, South Africa.
Locals believe it was an act of witchcraft.
Japie Moolman, who discovered the animal said: “Its hind quarters had been smeared with some type of paint, and cloths had been tied around its neck and head; it was totally blindfolded and tied with a rope.
According to a local expert on witchcraft and superstitions: “My educated guess is that the intention was to use the goat as a weapon to attack the enemy’s soul, perhaps to blind him for life – especially if the eyes had been pierced – or make him or her unable to think or function normally.”
Source(s): Zululand Observer, 13 April 2026
Pipes Not Poltergeists
According to a study by Canada’s MacEwan University, the unsettling feeling that many of us feel in an old building may be caused by infrasound – not ghosts.
Infrasound is very low frequency sound that humans can’t consciously hear. In old buildings, infrasound can be generated by ageing pipes, boilers and ventilation systems.
In the MacEwan University study, even though the volunteers couldn’t hear the sound, they were found to be more irritable and stressed when the sound was present.
According to the researchers, for the right person in the right circumstances, infrasound may convince them that a house is haunted.
“In plain terms, you cannot hear infrasound, but your body and your mood appear to respond to it anyway, and the response tends to be unpleasant,” explained Professor Rodney Schmaltz, a psychologist at MacEwan University. “What infrasound may do is supply a bit of bodily discomfort that a ghost or haunting explanation can then attach itself to.
“For someone who is not inclined to think in terms of ghosts, the same sensation would probably just register as a stuffy, uncomfortable old building. For someone who is already primed, it might feel like proof of a spirit or presence.”
Source(s): The Guardian, 28 April 2026
Clues to the Identity of the Calvine UFO Photographer
Documentary film makers are following up a strong lead in their search for the man who took the famous Calvine UFO photograph back in 1990.
The photo, featuring a diamond shaped UFO and a Harrier jet, was taken near Pitlochry in Scotland.
At the time, two men took the photo to the Daily Record newspaper. But the newspaper never printed the story – and gave the photo and the negatives to the Ministry of Defence.
The men disappeared shortly after this – as did the photo.
Following years of research, Dr David Clarke of Sheffield Hallam University tracked down a print of one of the original photos.
And now he has a lead on the identity of the photographer.
A man called Richard Grieve has come forward. Grieve was a chef at Fisher’s Hotel in Pitlochry in 1990, and he recalls two other chefs – known only as Ewen and James – receiving a visit at the hotel from two officers from the Royal Navy.
Both men were visibly shaken by their encounter with the naval officers – and both men left their jobs shortly after this encounter.
James is believed to have died. Ewen may still be alive, and Grieves has given a few clues which may help track him down.
According to Grieves, when he was employed at the hotel, Ewen was living on one of the islands off the west coast of Scotland. He was also a keen bird watcher.
The documentary team is hoping that these details may jog someone’s memory.
Source(s): Campbell Town Courier, 24 April 2026