WELCOME TO ISSUE 12 of isle of wéired news – bringing you the weirdest news from around the world.
In this issue: Skunk Ape at the Bigfoot Conference; a mystery explosion shakes South Carolina; earthquakes and land grabs at Area 51; “occult rituals” in an Indian graveyard; headless birds in the Hudson Valley; strange reports from the “Quiet Zone”; and in old news, the Bat Ghost terrorises Fitzroy Street.
Enjoy!
Skunk Ape to Feature at the Bigfoot Conference
Organisers are expecting thousands to attend the Great Florida Bigfoot Conference, which is due to take place on 13 June at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida.
Florida’s legendary Skunk Ape is expected to feature heavily at the event.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth in interest surrounding Bigfoot and unexplained phenomena over the last few years,” said Nikki Beatty from Gather Up Events. “People are travelling from all over the country to hear encounter stories, meet researchers they’ve watched on television, and experience Florida’s unique Skunk Ape culture.”
The Skunk Ape is Bigfoot’s Florida cousin. It’s a 5 – 7 feet tall human-like creature covered in reddish-brown hair. Its name comes from the smell it gives off.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there’s no direct evidence the Skunk Ape exists. A spokesperson for the organisation believes people are actually seeing wild boars or bears.
You can find out more about the event at the Gather Up Events website.
Source(s): News 6, 26 May 2026
South Carolina Mystery Boom
At 5:24pm on 28 May, residents across South Carolina heard a massive explosion that shook their homes.
Many took to social media:
“Woah, earthquake felt just now in SC, a loud boom and shook the building. Any one else in the midlands?”
“Big boom over head in Columbia, SC. I’m putting my money on a metor entry than explosion due to the wide spread reports of hearing it.”
According to the US Geological Survey, the event, which occurred near St Andrews, South Carolina, was not an earthquake. “This event is not an earthquake. The recorded waves and eyewitness reports are consistent with a sonic boom.”
NASA have since confirmed that a meteor was not responsible for the sonic boom, which leaves the finger of blame pointing at an aircraft.
So far, the aircraft has not been identified.
Source(s): Daily Star, 29 May 2026
Area 51 Land Grab on Shaky Ground
The US Air Force has taken almost 23,000 acres of public land around the infamous Area 51 military base in Nevada.
The land taken includes Tikaboo Peak, one of the last vantage points of the base.
According to the Bureau of Land Management, who approved the move, this “temporary closure” – as they are describing it – is a safety measure.
“This closure is necessary to protect persons, property, public lands, resources, and to avoid conflict among public land users.”
Some UFO researchers have questioned the closure – and the reasons given for it. One of those is Anders Ottesen, who runs the Uncanny Expeditions YouTube channel.
“I believe there’s going to be accelerated testing of different projects at the base and they want to eliminate the risk of anyone getting a peek into the hangers,” he said.
“The Bureau of Land Management is supposed to be an independent agency that manages land on behalf of the American taxpayer, but I believe we’re in a situation now where their leadership is taking direct orders from the military.
“Prior land grabs have happened under a legal process that involves comment from the public rather than the unilateral administrative action in the name of ‘safety’ that we see here.”
The “temporary closure” comes just weeks after three earthquakes – one with a magnitude of 4.4 – were recorded within a few miles of Area 51.
Given that the region is not known for earthquakes, and given the shallow depth at which the earthquakes were recorded, there’s speculation that the US military is carrying out underground nuclear tests at Area 51.
Source(s): Daily Star, 1 May 2026; The Sun, 23 May 202
Locals Halt Black Magic in Graveyard
At about midnight on 19 May 2026, locals witnessed Parvez Abdul Aziz Memon performing “occult rituals” in Kausar Baug graveyard, in Pune city’s Kondwha neighbourhood, in Maharashtra, India.
The rituals involved piercing photos of his father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and his brother-in-law’s wife. Reportedly, he “was attempting to regain control over his estranged wife or gain money and property from his in-laws.”
The locals who discovered Memon in the graveyard allegedly assaulted him before handing him over to police.
Memon was arrested under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.
Source(s): The Free Press Journal, 25 May 2026
The Hudson Valley Headless Birds Mystery
Animal cruelty investigators in Putnam County, New York state, have been called in to find the culprit responsible for decapitating birds and leaving their remains near waterways across the lower Hudson Valley.
According to the Putnam County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), headless roosters, chickens and doves have been discovered on at least six occasions over the last year.
Most recently, on 21 May 2026, four dead birds were found at the base of a tree. According to Putnam County SPCA Director Ken Ross: “The animals appear to have been tortured, decapitated and disposed of.”
On another occasion, according to Ross, a bag of headless birds was found along with a prayer written in Spanish.
The investigators don’t have much to go on. But they believe that the birds are being killed as part of some sort of religious or ritualistic ceremony.
Mutilated birds were first found in the small town of Kent last summer. And following this, bags of decapitated birds began to appear near lakes and reservoirs across Putnam County.
On one occasion, a goat’s head was left with the birds. Working with the Department of Agriculture, investigators were able to trace the goat’s head to a butcher’s shop in the Bronx. However, no suspects were identified.
The incidents stopped last year – but appear to have resumed in April this year after headless birds were found at the base of a tree near Lake Carmel.
So far, no one has witnessed the killing or the depositing of the birds.
Source(s): Times Union, 27 May 2026
Loveland Frogman to be Honoured
On 13 April, a bill was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives to have the Loveland Frogman declared as the state’s official cryptid.
“This bill is about showcasing our communities. The Loveland Frog is uniquely Ohio. It reflects the stories we tell, the places we’re proud of, and the creativity that makes our state worth celebrating.”
The Loveland Frogman story began in 1955 when a business man claimed to have seen a 4-foot tall humanoid figure with leathery skin and a frog-like face in the Little Miami River.
There have been subsequent sightings of the Frogman over the years, most notably in 1972 when it was seen by a number of police officers.
The city of Loveland has embraced the Frogman: adopting it as the city’s mascot, and hosting an annual Frogman festival.
The bill is expected to pass.
Source(s): New York Post, 28 April 2026
Strange Times in the Quiet Zone
On 17 May, Clinton Wayne Nelan was arrested near his home in Kerens, West Virginia. He was accused of misusing the emergency telephone system and harassing neighbours by claiming to be a police officer from Louisiana.
According to Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Nelan made multiple calls to 911 dispatchers, claiming to have seen zombies, ghosts and a UFO at his home.
Officers were dispatched to investigate. When they found no evidence for his claims, Nelan was arrested.
Some people within the community believe Nelan has been suffering from mental health issues. However, Nelan is not the first to make these types of claims in this part of West Virginia.
Nelan lives in the National Radio Quiet Zone, a region used by the US military to covertly monitor foreign communications – and by scientists engaged in the search for extraterrestrial life. Since 1958, all radio emissions – including mobile phones and Wi-Fi – have been banned in the 13,000 square mile zone.
This has created a region of clear, dark skies; a quiet that can instill a sense of isolation; and fewer electronic distractions. Factors that can combine – it has been suggested – to make an individual more aware of their surroundings and more likely to misinterpret anything unfamiliar they may see.
But it may also be an area where strange things are seen because there are strange things to be seen in West Virginia.
Source(s): Daily Mail, 21 May 2026
Old News: Nana Nana Nana Nana Bat Ghost!
In October of 1963, a very strange ghost was haunting Fitzroy Street in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
According to witnesses, it was a “huge white bat-like form which moves at a fantastic speed over the ground.”
It appeared almost nightly – and crowds would gather at the bottom of Fitzroy Street to wait for it. So there were a lot of witnesses.
One of those witnesses was Norman Laverty, a resident of Fitzroy Street. “I saw it last night,” he said at the time. “It is like the shape of a bat and about six feet in height, if not more. The colour of it when I saw it was amber.
“If it’s a man he ought to be in the Olympic Games.”
The speed at which the ghost moved was a recurring theme in eyewitness accounts. According to one witness, it traversed the length of the football pitch – about 100 metres – in seven seconds, making it considerably faster than Usain Bolt.
However, not everyone was impressed by the ghost. According to 15-year-old Fitzroy Street resident Phillip Crane: “It’s no ghost. It’s some man. I was ten yards from it.”
Another boy in the street, John Davies, believed that, even though “it lets a squeal out of it when it appears,” it was just a man.
Ghost or man, it was creating quite a disturbance in the area.
“The whole thing is terrible,” said one mother. “I can’t get my children to sleep with horns blowing, people shouting, etc.”
Source(s): Portadown News, 25 October 1963
Love the article and the bat ghost in particular