Bizarre News Weekly: Week of October 25 to October 31, 2026
Written by Shayn Jones.
Halloween week had a clear center: a new Pentagon UAP release, and the silent black triangles in it. Two federal agents, a sensitive site out west, a craft with no sound and no exhaust, and nothing on the ground the next morning. That release is the thread through this week. Around it: a Bigfoot film fight that won't settle. A Loch Ness surge. Spiders that may or may not dream. A skull rack that changes its own story. And a run of local oddities, from a deer in a laundromat to a capybara still at large seven months after her escape.
Top Strange Story of the Week: The Black Triangles Keep Coming Back
This one didn't land in a single night. It kept showing up, night after night, because the files themselves don't line up.
Start with what the files actually say. June 2026, a sensitive western site. Two federal agents describe a matte-black triangular craft, roughly 9 to 15 feet across. It rises straight up, hovers, then leaves at fighter-jet speed. No engines you can see, no vapor trail, a thermal signature that's just uniformly hotter than everything around it. Next morning? Nothing on the ground.
The files don't line up, and that's what keeps this story open.
The FBI account and the AARO memo don't agree on how long it lasted. And that speed number everybody's been repeating? It's not in either file for this June sighting.
So you've got real documents, named federal agents in the record, and a craft nobody can explain. Coulthart argued on NewsNation this week that more is probably being held back than what's been released. Whether that's true is unproven. What the released files show is this: the sighting is documented, the explanation is not.
What is documented is the release, and the agents' accounts. What is not settled is what the craft was.
Sources:
Creatures, UAP/UFO, and Paranormal
Jay Stratton Claims Non-Human Encounters
Just before this week, and directly tied to the top story: former Pentagon UAP Task Force director Jay Stratton says in his memoir Out of the Shadows, published October 13, that he personally saw non-human beings and craft. He describes a figure near his son's bedroom window in 2014, and he repeated the account in interviews on October 14 and October 20.
The interviews and his former role are documented. The encounters themselves are reported, not proven, and no independently verified evidence has been made public with them. That gap is the point: a senior former investigator saying he saw it himself, without a public record to close the case either way.
Source: https://www.forbiddenunveiled.com/2026/10/22/jay-stratton-pentagon-uap-non-human-beings-claims/
Heathrow Near Miss
Fifty feet. That's how close a shiny, reflective object, about the size of four toasters, the pilot said, passed a British Airways jet climbing out of Heathrow in June. No radar contact at the time. The UK Airprox Board gave it a Category A, their highest collision-risk grade, and couldn't identify it.
Fifty feet, no radar. A default drone explanation doesn't close that one. That incident and rating are on the Airprox record. What it was is still open.
Sources:
Source: https://dronexl.co/2026/10/26/british-airways-777-four-toasters-drone-airprox-unknown-object/
Orbs Over Portland
Then you've got orbs over Portland, Oregon, hovering for around half an hour on film, followed by another pair of lights holding for a half hour. Theories offered included air traffic, drones, and aliens. None established. That is footage as reported, not an identification.
Source: https://news.iheart.com/alternate/amp/2026-10-30-this-weeks-weird-news-103026/
Pill Shaped Object Over Ohio
A private aircraft crew over Ohio reported a silvery, pill-shaped object that showed up on neither their radar nor the nearest tower's. People threw out air traffic, drones, something else. Nothing stuck. Those are pilot claims as reported, not an identification.
Source: https://news.iheart.com/alternate/amp/2026-10-30-this-weeks-weird-news-103026/
Skinwalker Ranch File
Same file drop as the triangles, different rabbit hole: Skinwalker Ranch. A declassified 2010 investigation near Fort Duchesne, Utah. Balls of light. Dog-like creatures running on two legs. "Little people." And then, right in the middle of all that, a hair sample that DNA-identified as raccoon. So one piece gets an ordinary answer, and the rest just sits there, no conclusions drawn. The file is real. The sightings in it are not settled.
Sources:
Source: https://zot.news/article/flying-triangle-report-leads-new-us-release-ufo-documents-09yfb
Patterson-Gimlin Film Fight
The Patterson-Gimlin fight didn't settle this week, it got louder. Capturing Bigfoot shows a previously unseen reel that its director reads as a dress rehearsal for the 1967 film, plus Bob Heironimus saying he wore the suit. Bill Munns, who's in the film, disputes that reading. Film-stock markings alone can't date when the footage was shot. So it's a contested claim inside a contested film. That doesn't close the book, and it sure doesn't disprove Bigfoot by itself. Claimed, and contested.
Sources:
Loch Ness Surge
Loch Ness is having a big year, if you go by the register. The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register has accepted more reports in 2026 than in all of 2025 combined.
Latest one in the coverage: a German tourist in August, a roughly 20-foot black object surfacing offshore for about 20 seconds.
Same coverage also brings up the 2019 loch-water DNA sampling, eel DNA all through it, no prehistoric reptile DNA. Both can stand: people keep seeing something, and the water hasn't answered what it is yet. The register count stands, what was in the water is still unidentified.
The Paleman
An anonymous witness says a tall, faceless, pale figure followed him across multiple family homes from about age 13 for almost a decade, fading after therapy and medication. No location, no dates, no photos, no independent witnesses, and the site itself notes it happened in darkness or peripheral vision.
Manor, Texas
A guy grilling at early dusk says a huge hog-like animal came out near a tree line, then seemed to rise onto its hind legs and walk away looking like Bigfoot. The key movement happened behind vegetation, at a distance. No photos, no tracks. He himself raised shapeshifting as a possibility.
These are published eyewitness accounts, not corroborated evidence.
Sources (Phantoms and Monsters):
Indianapolis Highway Mystery
Also from Phantoms and Monsters: a truck driver out of Indianapolis, Indiana, says his highway signs abruptly changed from I-65 South to I-465 West near marker 111, and his Google Maps history later showed a line cutting straight through buildings, parks, and streets. No screenshot, no exported location history was supplied. The site notes it doesn't prove teleportation or missing time. The odd part is the route itself: a road you know, suddenly not behaving like itself. That is a claim, not a proven case.
Source (Phantoms and Monsters): https://phantomsandmonsters.com/post/indianapolis-highway-mystery-truck-driver-reports-sudden-route-change-on-i-65
Chile Water Creature
Farther out: fishermen in Chile filmed an unknown aquatic animal with a strange circular shape, compared by observers to El Cuero, the folkloric water spirit said to envelop prey with a flattened body. It remains unidentified on the footage available.
Source: https://news.iheart.com/alternate/amp/2026-10-30-this-weeks-weird-news-103026/
Argentina Figure
In Argentina, friends filmed a small, hair-covered figure some suggested was the Pombero, the goblin-like figure from regional folklore. On the footage available, it is still unidentified.
Source: https://news.iheart.com/alternate/amp/2026-10-30-this-weeks-weird-news-103026/
Mars Ejection Pods
And at the far fringe: UFO Sightings Daily's Scott C. Waring claimed two apparent "ejection pods" on Mars, sized to match figures he claims to have found there. That interpretation has no independent verification. It is speculation, not a finding.
Discoveries and Science
Two archaeology finds this week, and neither one behaves the way you'd expect.
Seddin Temple
At Seddin, north-west of Berlin, archaeologists unearthed an almost square Late Bronze Age structure dated to about 850 BC, described as a "Templum" for ceremonial use. Pits around it held large quantities of pottery and deliberately burned animal bones. Feasts or sacrifices? Not determined yet. A ritual building, and we still don't know the ritual. The dig is reported. The ritual behind it is not.
Chiapas Skull Rack
Then Chiapas, Mexico. Near Frontera Comalapa, a pre-Hispanic skull rack, a tzompantli, found in a cave in 2012 has turned up something nobody expected. Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History reports at least 165 individuals, with a female majority. That runs against the usual male-warrior-and-captive picture of skull racks. Why women dominate? Unexplained. Those are INAH figures as reported, and the ritual purpose is still speculation.
Spiders took up more of this week than expected.
Jumping Spiders and Sleep
University of Bonn researchers report that the Australian jumping spider Portia fimbriata has regulated, two-stage sleep, including a REM-like phase with eye movements and muscle twitches, plus rebound sleep after disruption. They didn't measure brain activity directly, so no, this does not mean spiders dream. It's about sleep structure, not dreams. That distinction matters, and it's what makes it interesting instead of just cute. The study is published. Dreaming is not what it proves.
Source: https://thesciverse.org/jumping-spiders-sleep-rem-dream-study/
Colbert Spider Genome
A Californian trapdoor spider named for Stephen Colbert, Aptostichus stephencolberti, now has a published reference genome running about 50% larger than the human genome. All that venom chemistry sitting in an obscure species, with medical or agricultural uses still just prospective. The genome itself is published.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-10-spider-stephen-colbert-genome-larger.html
Life on Enceladus
Lab experiments simulating conditions on Saturn's moon Enceladus showed microorganisms could survive in its subsurface environment. That adds to the habitability case for the ice moon. Life on Enceladus itself? Still unestablished.
Fire Salamander Glow
Europe's black-and-yellow fire salamanders fluoresce green and cyan under ultraviolet light, traced to skin glands and secretions, and the glow keeps going for more than a day outside the body. Biological function? Not established yet. The lab result and fluorescence are reported. What the glow is for is not established.
Sources:
Source: https://uapinsight.com/today
Source: https://rocketnews.com/2026/10/scientists-discover-a-secret-glow-in-toxic-fire-salamanders/
Crows Decide Fast
Crows make decisions about twice as fast as humans and monkeys, according to a study in Science reported October 25.
Neuronal signals for motion direction diverged as early as 70 milliseconds after the stimulus, in a differently organized avian brain implementing comparable decision-making principles. A bird brain deciding before a primate brain has finished processing the same signal. That rearranges some assumptions about minds.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-10-crows-decisions-fast-humans-monkeys.html
NASA Picture of the Day
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 31, "Night on a Spooky Planet," showed Earth at Hverir, Iceland, where geothermal fumarole steam vents dance under green aurora from solar-driven geomagnetic storms. Not a paranormal claim, just a seasonal framing. Fitting way to close a Halloween week, though. The picture itself is NASA's October 31 pick.
Source: https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-october-31-night-on-a-spooky-planet/
Bizarre Local Spotlights
- Shiprock / Four Corners, New Mexico: Record San Juan River flooding at its highest stage on record, overnight rescues, and untreated wastewater discharged into the river. A river breaking its own record while the systems meant to contain it fail in sequence. That's the strangeness here, scale meeting infrastructure.
- Destin / Gulf Coast, Florida: The nearly 1,000-foot SS United States, fastest transatlantic liner of 1952, is now scheduled to be deliberately sunk in November as the world's largest artificial reef. A ship once boasted unsinkable, sunk on purpose, by plan.
- Chesterfield Township, Michigan: A Lions timeout may have saved a man's life when a car crashed through his living-room wall seconds after he left his couch.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpMeoHMbBTQ
- St. Clair Shores, Michigan: Jamie Victory, 55, has driven only white Chrysler minivans since 1996, wears a full Detroit Tigers uniform every day, and has held funerals for his cars, complete with eulogies, songs, and mourners.
- Winston-Salem, North Carolina: A deer crashed into a woman in the parking lot of Wishy Washy Laundry, then smashed through the front window, ran among the washing machines, and escaped back through the broken window. No one inside was reported injured.
Source: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2026/10/29/deer-crashes-though-laundromat-winston-salem/5961793290016/
- Near Holme Moss, West Yorkshire, England: A farmer found 28 sheep dead in a field, some in water and others with bite marks and signs of having been grabbed; post-mortems found no obvious illness, three more sheep are seriously unwell, and loose dogs are a concern raised by the owner. The deaths are reported. The cause is not known, and no cryptid or paranormal explanation is established.
Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/40852633/mystery-28-sheep-suddenly-found-dead-bite-marks-water/
- Near Marwell Zoo, Hampshire, England: Samba, the capybara who escaped Marwell Zoo in March, has been photographed alive and well on wildlife cameras seven months on, with the zoo setting up a feeding area to encourage her to return regularly for a careful recovery. She is still at large, not recaptured.
- Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium: A man appeared before a Nivelles criminal court over an overnight spree in which he allegedly put underwear over his head to disguise himself, threatened a cashier with an electric meat-knife blade, left empty-handed, set fire to his own clothing, and stole a hearse. Prosecutors are seeking 18 months, with a verdict expected November 17. Charges are allegations, not convictions.
Source: https://eurotoday.org/belgian-man-to-stand-trial-for-alleged-2026-hearse-theft/
- Columbus, Georgia: Two people in dinosaur costumes were arrested on Halloween after a self-checkout queue dispute at a Publix allegedly escalated to a firearm being pointed at another customer. Charges are allegations, not a conviction.
- Columbia, Missouri: Bear mace, or possibly regular pepper spray, the substance is unconfirmed, was deployed inside a Spirit Halloween store on Saturday afternoon, sending one adult to hospital in stable condition and temporarily closing the store; police are seeking juvenile suspects, described as a possible prank or reckless act. Neither the substance nor the motive is confirmed.
Source: https://wisevoter.com/world/us/mo/columbia/2026/10/31/columbia-spirit-halloween-bear-mace-incident
- Westland, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio: Halloween coverage toured Eloise Asylum in Westland, a former poorhouse from the 1830s that grew to more than 900 acres at its peak, now offering historical tours and paranormal investigations, and Toledo's Mortuary Manor, a former funeral home with embalming rooms, an autopsy room, and a morgue. Same coverage notes the unease: thousands were buried in unmarked graves at Eloise, and some connected to former patients object to turning suffering into entertainment.
Source: https://tutubi.ph/halloween-tours-take-visitors-inside-former-psychiatric-hospital-and-funeral-home/
Conspiracy Watch
Disclosure. That's the thread here, and it's a fringe thread if there ever was one: what the government holds back about UAP, and what it takes to get it out.
Burlison Pursues Crash Retrieval
Rep. Eric Burlison says his office is still pursuing crash-retrieval footage and other incidents described by David Grusch, with requests sent to Lockheed Martin, the CIA, the FBI, and the Department of War. He warns the window before the new Congress is short. A NewsNation segment featured retired lawyer Robert Martinez on a White Sands contractor client's story he took to Rep. Schiff in 1996. Burlison's pursuit is a stated effort. The crash retrieval claims behind it are still claims, not shown.
Source: https://uapinsight.com/today
Carson Calls for Volume II
Rep. André Carson is calling for the immediate release of Volume II of the Pentagon's UFO historical record report. Volume I came out in March 2024. AARO's director said in November 2024 that Volume II would come "in the next few months." As of this week, AARO's reports page still lists only Volume I. The delay is a matter of record. The contents of Volume II are not.
Source: https://aliennews.co.il/en/articles/carson-aaro-historical-record-volume-2-delayed-2026
Coulthart Analysis, October 27
NewsNation's October 27 analysis of the newly released files focused on black-triangle sightings, with analyst Ross Coulthart arguing the Pentagon likely holds additional classified evidence beyond the public disclosures. The analysis and Coulthart's argument are coverage. More evidence existing is a claim, not something shown.
Source: https://uapinsight.com/today/2026-10-27
Walter Haut Affidavit
Coverage of the newly released files also highlighted an affidavit from Walter Haut, the Roswell Army Air Field public information officer, stating he was convinced what he personally observed was a craft and crew from outer space. The affidavit is in the released files. That alone does not establish an extraterrestrial craft.
Top Internet Conspiracies of the Week
- Black Triangle Files Online: The black-triangle files, and what the documents actually say versus what the headlines claimed. The October 23 release drove days of online argument over the mismatched durations, the missing speed figure, and whether the files prove anything beyond the sightings themselves, with video breakdowns reading the primary documents line by line. The release and the debate are coverage. What the craft was is still open.
Sources: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/10/26/trump-ufo-files-mysterious-black-triangles/92440182007/ · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsm826h-bdU
- Legacy Retrieval Program Claim: The legacy retrieval program claim, recirculating. Journalist Ross Coulthart's claim that a legacy retrieval and reverse-engineering program exists, and that disclosure is more likely than not, kept circulating in UAP commentary this month, with reporting careful to note the claims remain unverified and no official source has confirmed such a program. That one is claimed, and unverified.
Source: https://www.tjhayesbooks.com/general/ufo-space-news-october-2026/
What to Watch Next Week
- SS United States Sinking: The deliberate sinking of the SS United States, scheduled for November, and whether the world's largest artificial reef plan proceeds on schedule.
- Braine-l'Alleud Verdict: The verdict in the Braine-l'Alleud hearse-theft case, expected November 17.
- Samba the Capybara: Whether Marwell Zoo's feeding-area plan brings Samba the capybara in for a careful recovery.
- NASA Swift Re-entry: NASA's Swift observatory, expected to re-enter around November 2 after its failed commercial rescue, with most of it burning up.
- Black Triangle Timelines and Volume II: Any further tranche, statement, or video addressing the conflicting black-triangle timelines, and whether Volume II of the AARO historical record finally appears.
Fun Facts
- Patterson-Gimlin Film, 1967: The Patterson-Gimlin film at the center of this week's Bigfoot debate dates to 1967.
- SS United States, 1952: The SS United States, this week's sinking-bound liner, was the fastest transatlantic liner of 1952.
- Crows: Crows, featured in this week's science section, decide about twice as fast as humans and monkeys in the reported study, a differently organized brain reaching comparable decisions sooner.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2026-10-crows-decisions-fast-humans-monkeys.html
This Week in Bizarre History
Fiorentina Stadium, October 27, 1954
During a match at Fiorentina Stadium, a mass sighting was reported as strange objects passed over the stadium, an event long cited in UFO lore as one of the great stadium sightings. The commonly noted counter-explanation is migrating spider silk drifting on the wind. The sighting reports stand as claimed witness accounts; the objects themselves remain unidentified, and the spider-silk explanation remains a proposed natural explanation, not a settled verdict.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_sightings_in_Italy
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