WELCOME TO ISSUE 11 of isle of wéired news – bringing you the weirdest news from around the world.
In this issue: more phantom cat reports from Wales; another sighting of Nessie; a giant chunk of ice falls out of the sky in LA County; an actor’s career scuppered by witchcraft; the hum continues in Hamilton; strange creatures plague a primary school in Botswana; and in old news, a Scottish poltergeist case from 2016.
Enjoy!
Another Welsh Phantom Cat Sighting
Two separate sightings of a “labrador-sized” cat have been made in North Wales.
The first sighting was made by two anglers at Conwy Water Gardens. They saw a “large black cat much bigger than a domestic cat” carrying “a bird of some sort in its mouth.”
One of the anglers, Andrew, said: “I thought it was a dog at first about the size of a small labrador. I was looking for someone walking it until I realised it was a cat of some sort.”
Another witness said: “It was a bit bigger than my Springer Spaniel. I watched it move about for seconds, then saw it sideways, its head was much bigger than a domestic cat, it moves as though it was prowling.”
Both sightings were reported to Puma Watch.
“Under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, it became illegal to keep big cats such as pumas as pets in the UK without a licence,” said Puma Watch founder, Toby Jones.
“It is widely believed that many owners released their animals into the wild rather than comply with the law or have them destroyed, and that a population of these cats, or their descendants, continues to roam the Welsh countryside to this day.”
Source(s): Irish Daily Mirror, 8 May 2026
And Another Nessie Sighting
Two Canadian holidaymakers – Margaret Sunstrum and Joan Sweeney – say they saw Nessie on 23 April while they were driving near Dochgarroch Lock.
“Margie was looking out the rear window facing the loch when she spotted a large shaped crest in the water that she thought looked like a whale.
“The water was calm and still and behind the shape was a large S-shaped wake.”
Source(s): Irish Daily Star, 14 May 2026
A Very Rude Awakening in LA
At 11:18 am on Friday, 10 April, a large chunk of ice fell out of the sky and crashed through the roof of a house in Whittier, California.
Fortunately, the occupant, Yudar Grau, was having a nap in another part of the house and was uninjured.
Thania Magana, who owns the house, believes the ice fell from an aircraft. She contacted the Los Angeles County Supervisor, Janice Hahn, who wrote to the Federal Aviation Authority about the incident.
“While such incidents are rare, the potential consequences are extremely serious,” Hahn wrote in her letter. “Whether the material originated from aircraft systems, waste leakage, or another source, this event raises important concerns about aviation safety over densely populated communities in Los Angeles County.”
While incidents like this tend to be blamed on aircraft, some scientists have been giving serious consideration to another possible explanation.
Megacryometeors is the name that’s been given to large chunks of ice that are believed to form naturally in the atmosphere. They can be as big as tens of kilograms, and they can fall out of a clear sky.
Serious study into the phenomenon began in 2000 after chunks of ice fell across several locations in Spain over a period of days.
And it was in Spain that one of the largest megacryometeors – weighing in at over 400kg – fell in 2004.
Back in Whittier, Thania Magana is grateful that Mr Grau was having a nap at the time of the incident.
“I keep replaying it and just thinking of the what if,” she said. “The first thing that comes to mind is that he probably wouldn’t be here with us.”
The FAA have launched an investigation.
Source(s): The Sacramento Bee, 16 April 2026
Actor’s Career Sabotaged by Witchcraft
Zimbabwean actor and musician Tendai Chidarikire suffered a mild stroke on Sunday, 10 May, just weeks after he was diagnosed with thrombosis.
There are many factors that could have contributed to Chidarikire’s current health problems – but he believes witchcraft is involved.
“There are strange things that I have been facing in recent weeks and I can’t rule out the fact that there might be evil spirits formed against me that want to bring me down,” he said.
“I always ask myself why is it that I started encountering medical challenges when I hinted at a return to showbiz after a long sabbatical.
“Whether we like it or not, there are spirits of anti-progress that follow from the families where I come from and all this can only be addressed through prayer.”
Source(s): H Metro, 14 May 2026
The Hamilton Hum Continues
A mysterious humming noise continues to torment many of the residents of Hamilton, in Ontario, Canada.
No one seems to know exactly when the hum began, but Megan Hull says she has been hearing it since she moved into her Hamilton home in 2012.
The hum is loudest in the evening and at night. Hull says it is usually manageable, but in summer, when the heat forces residents to open the windows, it can become much more intense.
While the source of the hum has never been identified, many believe that it’s coming from the industrial north end of central Hamilton.
There’s a growing sense of frustration in the community at the perceived lack of action by the authorities. However, City Councillor Nrinder Nann has been advising residents to continue filing formal complaints.
“It’s not a phantom scenario,” she said. “Once you’re tuned into it, you can’t unhear it.”
Source(s): The Hamilton Spectator, 8 May 2026
Toilet Demons
Boseja Primary School in Maun, Botswana, was temporarily closed after 15 students collapsed after they reported seeing strange creatures near the school toilets.
The decision to close the school was made by The Ministry of Basic Education and Child Welfare, but only after consultation with Botswana’s president, Duma Boko.
It seems that, since the beginning of May, children at the school have been reporting seeing “creatures” near the school toilets. And each time one of the children was asked to describe what they saw, they immediately lost consciousness.
“The children are saying they see creatures that are scaring them,” said one of the teachers. “But when they try to tell what the thing was doing, they faint. When they recover, they seem to forget what happened.”
In response to the sightings, a number of church leaders arrived at the school and scattered salt in an effort to exorcise the premises. But this reportedly inflamed the situation – causing many to believe that witchcraft was involved.
One of the teachers at the school has been blamed for the presence of the “evil spirits.” However, Pastor Kinolo Makhokhoba, Chairperson of the Ministers’ Fraternal – an association of local church leaders – has urged the community not to be casting blame. “These are the works of the devil,” he said. “There is no need to point at each other.”
Former chair, Apostle Terence Sechele, believes the toilets themselves are to blame. Like many Sub-Saharan schools, Boseja Primary School relies on a school pit latrine for its sanitation needs. These are very basic structures built around a deep hole to collect human waste.
The children are having to hold their breath when they use the latrines, and Apostle Sechele believes that some are holding their breath for too long and passing out.
The Minister’s Fraternal is expected to perform prayers at the school while it is closed.
Source(s): The Voice (Botswana), 22 May 2026
Old News: The Polis and the Poltergeist
On the evening of 8 August 2016, Police Scotland officers were called to a house on Stonelaw Road in Rutherglen, Scotland.
The residents, a mother and her teenaged son, had called the police after witnessing poltergeist-type activity in the house.
When the officers arrived, they witnessed lights flickering on and off, flying clothes and an oven door that opened and closed on its own.
And while they were at the house, a chihuahua that had been playing in the garden miraculously appeared on the top of a seven-foot-tall hedge.
According to a source who spoke to the Daily Record at the time, the incident caused much head-scratching at the upper levels of Police Scotland. “These were incidents that were witnessed by our own officers,” the source said. “Incidents that are not easily explained. One problem we’ve got is where do we go from here as no crime has been established, so what else can we do but deal with any reports of disturbances.
“But officers with more than 20 years’ service are saying they’ve never seen anything like this. It really is something that down-to-earth police officers are having trouble getting their heads round.”
As the family were Catholic, the police contacted a priest for help. The priest performed a “blessing” at the house.
Following the incident, police looked into the family’s background – and the history of the house. But it seems no answers were found.
At the end of their investigation, Police Scotland issued the following statement: “On 8 and 9 August police attended a house in Rutherglen to reports of a disturbance. No evidence of criminality was found and advice and guidance was given to the family.”
Source(s): Daily Record, 10 May 2026