Weird News from around the world

UFO snapped over Thames

Taken from the Sun

Published: 28 Feb 2008

A STUDENT was left shocked when she checked her tourist snaps of the London skyline - and spotted what looks like a flying saucer.

University Of Exeter academic Karolina-Slavka Mueller was in London for the weekend, when she took some shots with her camera phone of the sights.

But when she looked back at the January 19 night time pictures of Tower Bridge and the London Eye, she was shocked to see an apparent UFO.

And experts claim it is the real thing.

Karolina said in an email: "What's very strange about this is the fact that we didn't actually see this object in the sky while I was taking the photos.

"I only discovered it once I loaded the photos onto my computer as I didn't even look at the photos until then."

The images - taken around 3.50am - were taken eight minutes apart as Karolina and two pals drove through Central London.

The apparent UFO is at an angle and appears to emit a mysterious blue light.

Karolina added: "None of us can come up with a reasonable answer to what this might have been.

"One of my friends, the driver, has grown up in London and he can't find a reasonable answer.

"He says he's never seen anything like it and that there definitely isn't any building in this area that could look like this."

UFO experts have been left scratching their heads over the sighting.

Editor, cameraman and UFO researcher Chris Martin said: "I was looking for evidence that these have been fabricated.

"I couldn't find any evidence. It's unprecedented because she produced three pictures, which seems to show it's flying.

"My own evaluation is that these photographs are genuine and have not been digitally manipulated or hoaxed."

He added: "These photos are, in my opinion as a UFO researcher, absolutely astounding and show a real object seemingly under intelligent control.

"This is a classic flying saucer-shaped UFO."

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson did not comment on the sighting, saying: "The MoD examines reports solely to establish whether UK airspace may have been compromisedby hostile or unauthorised military activity.

"Unless there is evidence of a potential threat, there is no attempt to identify the nature of each sighting reported."

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Plea for 'witches' to be pardoned

Taken from BBC News

Thursday 28th Feb 2008

Campaigners have submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for the last woman convicted under the Witchcraft Act to be pardoned.
Helen Duncan spent nine months in Holloway prison after being found guilty at a trial in 1944.

She had told a séance a warship had sunk before the news had been officially announced.

A second petition calls for all those convicted under witchcraft legislation in Scotland to be pardoned.

Family stigma

Both petitions have been organised by a paranormal group, Full Moon Investigations.

A petition to the Westminster Government last year failed to secure a pardon for Mrs Duncan.

This new document calls on the Scottish Government to urge the Home Secretary to reconsider the case.

Mrs Duncan, born in Callander, Perthshire, held a séance at which the spirit of a dead sailor was said to have revealed the loss of the battleship HMS Barham with most of her crew.

The sinking had been kept secret by the authorities to maintain wartime morale.

Although not convicted for being a witch, Mrs Duncan was jailed for pretending to use witchcraft.

The crime of being a witch was abolished by the 1735 Witchcraft Act.

Roberta Gordon presented the signatures to Frank McAveety, convener of the public petitions committee, at Holyrood.

Mrs Gordon, who has been a medium for more than 28 years, said: "I feel that at the time the country was paranoid about security with D-Day coming up and the evidence used against her wasn't accurate.

"It would take away the stigma of the family that is still living, the granddaughters, the great-grandsons and she has got a great granddaughter.

"For them to know that Helen Duncan is not classed as a witch would be the icing on the cake."

The campaigners claim about 4,000 people were convicted under the witchcraft legislation in force between 1563 and 1736, 85% of them women.

The petition states that torture was used to extract confessions as late as 1704 and those convicted were almost always strangled before their body was burnt.

The petition states: "Many of today's professions have their roots in tradition and what could be seen as mystical wisdom.

"Professions such as mediumship, herbalists, midwifery, reiki and many alternative therapies, to name just a few."

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Accused witch gives birth in tree

Taken from news.com.au

February 26, 2008

A PREGNANT woman in Papua New Guinea who was hung from a tree after being accused of sorcery gave birth to her baby while struggling to free herself.

Nolan Yekum and her husband Paul were dragged from their house and hung from a tree by fellow tribesmen who accused them of sorcery after the couple's neighbour suddenly died.

Their ordeal occurred in Kilip village near Banz in Western Highlands Province, PNG's newspaper The National reported today.

The woman and her baby girl, her third child, were doing well in Mt Hagen Hospital after two weeks in hiding, the report said.

Her husband said men entered their house in the middle of the night with a rope and tied it round their necks, accusing them of sorcery over their neighbour's death.

They were dragged outside and hung from a tree, he said.

"We managed to loosen the noose to get our feet on the ground ... we were able to free ourselves.

"My wife, who was about seven months pregnant, delivered the baby while struggling to free herself.

"It was a painful experience for me and her," Mr Yekum said.

He said he pleaded with villagers to wait for his neighbour's post-mortem examination and he accused local police of failing to act.

The couple denied practising sorcery.