An Italian village was evacuated yesterday as investigators attempted to explain an outbreak of spontaneous household appliance combustions, which have left locals fearing for their safety.
Fridges, cookers, televisions, washing machines, mobile telephones and furniture have burst into flame for no apparent reason at a dozen houses in the Sicilian village of Canneto di Caronia near Messina.
Authorities initially suspected the fires were caused by overhead cables on a nearby railway line, but the outbreaks continued even after the village's electricity supply was cut off, leading some locals to blame supernatural forces.
Pedro Spinnato, the village mayor, has ordered the evacuation so further investigations can be carried out.
"This has been going on for three weeks now and there is no explanation for it. We cannot risk a tragedy through these fires, so I have no other option but to evacuate the village," said Mr Spinnato.
High Strangeness
It was just little things at first...a TV would smoulder, a mobile phone would catch fire.
But then it got worse - a whole lot worse.
Over three weeks fridges, washing machines, cookers and furniture all began bursting into flames for no reason. Twelve houses were badly damaged by blazes in the quiet village.
Now, with panic-stricken locals blaming evil spirits and calling for an exorcism, the mayor has ordered a full-scale evacuation.
Last night Italian TV showed people fleeing in tears while fireman rushed to fight yet another spontaneous blaze.
But then it got worse - a whole lot worse.
Over three weeks fridges, washing machines, cookers and furniture all began bursting into flames for no reason. Twelve houses were badly damaged by blazes in the quiet village.
Now, with panic-stricken locals blaming evil spirits and calling for an exorcism, the mayor has ordered a full-scale evacuation.
Last night Italian TV showed people fleeing in tears while fireman rushed to fight yet another spontaneous blaze.
An unusual report from Italy about the July fires on the Gargano Peninsula. The article below was partially translated by a reader.
The news from Gargano [A Peninsula in South Eastern Italy] seem to come from another planet, from a country of the third world. And they are also, partially, false.
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| ©NOAA - NASA |
| Fires in Southern Europe |
The news from Gargano [A Peninsula in South Eastern Italy] seem to come from another planet, from a country of the third world. And they are also, partially, false.
Comment: This month a pretty large area of Southern Europe comprising Italy, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Ex-Yugoslavia's territories and Greece, was targeted with wild fires bringing extreme damages to people and infrastructures.
Here's a video of the Albanian fire, in which a whole forest is burning, crippled by fire spots all around:
Albania Forest Fires Unreachable, 22 Jul 2007
The fires emerging in a spot-like manner out of the green leaves of the forest, are reminiscent in some way of the description given by C.B on the Italian fires, though nothing can be confirmed as yet.
In another occasion, back in 2004, mysterious fires were reported in Canneto di Caronia, Sicily, Italy.
It's the weird and wonderful place where the men in grey suits from Whitehall meet the little green men from Mars.
The Ministry of Defence has for the first time opened its real-life 'X Files', detailing how its experts have examined photographs of UFOs hovering over the UK.
The Ministry of Defence has for the first time opened its real-life 'X Files', detailing how its experts have examined photographs of UFOs hovering over the UK.
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| ©Unknown |
| This photograph was taken in the skies over Portsmouth harbour. |
France became the first country to open its files on UFOs Thursday when the national space agency unveiled a website documenting more than 1,600 sightings spanning five decades.
The online archives, which will be updated as new cases are reported, catalogues in minute detail cases ranging from the easily dismissed to a handful that continue to perplex even hard-nosed scientists.
"It is a world first," said Jacques Patenet, the aeronautical engineer who heads the office for the study of "non-identified aerospatial phenomena."
Known as OVNIs in French, UFOs have always generated intense interest along with countless conspiracy theories about secretive government cover-ups of findings deemed too sensitive or alarming for public consumption.
The online archives, which will be updated as new cases are reported, catalogues in minute detail cases ranging from the easily dismissed to a handful that continue to perplex even hard-nosed scientists.
"It is a world first," said Jacques Patenet, the aeronautical engineer who heads the office for the study of "non-identified aerospatial phenomena."
Known as OVNIs in French, UFOs have always generated intense interest along with countless conspiracy theories about secretive government cover-ups of findings deemed too sensitive or alarming for public consumption.
Comment: One wonders if this slow but gradual release of information is not a preparation of the masses for something big.
It didn't rain cats and dogs, apparently something strange did come from the sky in Bucks County. As we first told you on 69 News Tuesaday, a Perkasie resident contacted us after he found a strange substance all over his yard after a rainstorm.
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| ©69News |
| The strange substance in a person's hand. |
Dubuque, Iowa - Large chunks of ice, one of them reportedly about 50 pounds, fell from the sky in this northeast Iowa city, smashing through a woman's roof and tearing through nearby trees.
Authorities were unsure of the ice's origin but have theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane or naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere - both rare occurrences.
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| ©Telegraph Herald/AP |
| Jan Kenkel holds a piece of ice that fell through the roof of her Dubuque, Iowa, home on Thursday. |
Authorities were unsure of the ice's origin but have theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane or naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere - both rare occurrences.
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| ©Herald Tribune/AP |
| The mysterious falling ice left a hole in the roof of Kenkel's home. |
A football-sized block of ice fell out of the sky on to the roof of an industrial building in Madrid, police say, denting the roof but without causing injuries.
"We don't know where it came from," a police spokeswoman said of the 20 kilogram lump.
"We don't know where it came from," a police spokeswoman said of the 20 kilogram lump.
An Angus couple are recovering from shock after a giant ice cube plummeted from the sky at hundreds of miles an hour and smashed into their roof.
James and Flora Fleming were relaxing in the lounge of their home, The Gables at Barnhead, on the outskirts of Montrose yesterday when the ice meteor hit.
They dashed outside to find five slates broken on the roof and the ice block lying shattered on their lawn.
"It was around 1.30pm and we were sitting watching TV when there was a terrific bang like goodness knows what," Mrs Fleming said.
"At first I thought it might have been a crow hitting the window, but it was far too loud for that.
James and Flora Fleming were relaxing in the lounge of their home, The Gables at Barnhead, on the outskirts of Montrose yesterday when the ice meteor hit.
They dashed outside to find five slates broken on the roof and the ice block lying shattered on their lawn.
"It was around 1.30pm and we were sitting watching TV when there was a terrific bang like goodness knows what," Mrs Fleming said.
"At first I thought it might have been a crow hitting the window, but it was far too loud for that.
A couple were mesmerised as seven red lights flew silently and at great speed above their house in the early hours of the morning.
It was just after midnight when Leigh Williams, 31, went out to the back of his house on Townsend Avenue for a cigarette.
He said he saw some strange lights in the sky and ran inside to get his wife, Lynn, 32.
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| ©Flintshire Standard |
| The UFO seen over Wrexham - Watch our exclusive video of UFOs over Wrexham |
It was just after midnight when Leigh Williams, 31, went out to the back of his house on Townsend Avenue for a cigarette.
He said he saw some strange lights in the sky and ran inside to get his wife, Lynn, 32.
Comment: You can watch the video recording in the original article to decide for yourselves whether the lights are in fact "Chinese lanterns", which has replaced "Venus" as the debunking tool du jour.
Comment: We want to see your data Father Gabriel!
If he, a spokesmen for the Catholic church, can talk about "demons", then surely we can discuss our own theories. We don't have enough data yet for a sound working hypothesis, but surely we can come up with something better than demons.
How about this for starters: It could be a fourth density bleed through. We have very little idea how dimensions and densities interact in our reality, so if it is open season on all things weird then let's really get down to the nitty-gritty.
SOTT readers are invited to examine our research on several "mysterious" topics:
Anomalous Phenomena
Fortean Fire
Strange Creatures
Sonic or "Mystery" Booms
Strange Clouds