In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli observed through his telescope long straight lines running across the equatorial regions of the Red Planet. He called these canali and they appeared to be confirmed later by Irish astronomer Charles. E. Burton who made some of the first drawings of these “canals”. Schiaparelli’s discovery caused a sensation. If there…
In April 1921, the small farming community of Guyra was rocked, literally, by an apparent stone-throwing spirit and series of other unusual happenings. Along with the ghostly attacks, an elderly woman, with a potato in each hand, vanished into thin air, a young girl was shot in the head by her kid brother, the town’s…
As a sequel to last week’s post on 19th century encounters with the hairy man of the Blue Mountains, this week weirdaustralia explores more recent close encounters with what we now commonly refer to as the yowie. Such encounters are regularly reported up and down Australia’s eastern seaboard, from the far south coast of New…
The crystal waters of Babinda Creek, south of Cairns in Far North Queensland, flow from the state’s highest mountain Mt Bartle Frere down through the steamy rainforest to the Great Barrier Reef Coast. On their way, the waters flow into a waterhole known as Babinda Boulders, an idyllic setting and favourite tourist attraction. The innocuous…
Encounters with the “hairy man” of the rugged Blue Mountains just west of Australia’s largest metropolis, Sydney, have been recorded from the time colonial settlers first appeared in the area. While long before the settlers’ arrival, the original inhabitants always feared and respected the elusive, hairy hominid, often referred to as the yowie or yahoo.…
