Buzz
In the wake of global disasters, and occasionally in the days or weeks preceding them, numerous accounts of eerie sightings and unexplained events emerge. These stories range from sightings of malevolent entities emerging from the Earth to mysterious lights in the sky or encounters with seemingly real creatures. While these tales should be approached with a healthy dose of skepticism, they remain fascinating to those who share them.
10. The Demons of the Christchurch Earthquakes
Christchurch and the Canterbury region of New Zealand were struck by two powerful earthquakes in September 2010 and February 2011. These tragedies claimed hundreds of lives and caused widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure. Following these events, the Christchurch Paranormal Investigators reported a surge in accounts of strange sightings and experiences. Anton Heyrick, the group's founder, suggested that the seismic activity might have released ancient spirits into the world of the living.
One case stood out as particularly unusual: Allan Bennetts and his wife, Sandra, had recently relocated to the area and transformed their new home into their ideal living space. Days before the initial earthquake, Bennetts reported an encounter with a mysterious man dressed in black and wearing dark glasses. Both Bennetts and Heyrick recounted this incident on the TV show Weird or What?, stating that the man handed Allan an envelope containing a black-and-white photo of his house from the 1930s.
For reasons he couldn’t articulate, the photograph deeply unsettled Allan, prompting him to tear it apart days later. The very next day, the first earthquake occurred, causing significant damage to the Bennetts’ home. Allan also noted a shift in the house’s atmosphere, describing a newfound “negative” presence.
One night, shortly after 3:00 AM, Allan was abruptly awakened by loud banging on his bed. He and Sandra watched in terror as invisible footprints appeared to press into the bed. Suddenly, Allan felt an unseen force strangling him with immense strength. Just as he feared for his life, the pressure vanished, and the entity seemed to disappear. Heyrick’s investigation suggested a demonic presence in the house, though the identity and purpose of the stranger who delivered the photograph remain unknown.
A strikingly similar story emerged years later from Pakistani cricketer Haris Sohail, who claimed a ghost attacked him in his hotel room while he slept. The hotel, constructed after the 2011 earthquake, had no prior reports of paranormal activity, according to its staff.
9. The Black Bird of Chernobyl 1986
The Chernobyl disaster in April 1986 remains one of the most catastrophic nuclear events in history. Interestingly, declassified reports from after the Cold War suggest that numerous plant workers and Pripyat residents witnessed a bizarre, bird-like entity with glowing red eyes hovering above the town in the days before the disaster. Additionally, many reported receiving eerie phone calls filled with unexplained noises before the line abruptly disconnected. Others described sudden, intense nightmares.
Firefighters and emergency personnel dispatched to the scene after the explosion also recounted sightings of a winged creature darting through the smoke as they battled the flames and searched for survivors. Adding to the mystery, a peculiar cigar-shaped object was reportedly seen hovering over the disaster site for hours following the explosion.
This enigmatic figure came to be known as the Birdman of Pripyat or the Black Bird of Chernobyl. While skeptics dismiss it as merely a large bird, the accounts continue to intrigue.
8. The Mothman and the Silver Bridge Collapse 1967
The tale of the Black Bird of Chernobyl becomes even more intriguing when compared to eerily similar reports from the United States nearly 20 years earlier. In Point Pleasant, West Virginia, sightings of a winged creature, later dubbed the Mothman, preceded the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967, which resulted in 46 fatalities. Witnesses claimed to have seen the creature flying near the bridge in the days leading up to the disaster.
Reports of the Mothman began in November 1966, when five cemetery workers in Clendenin described seeing a winged figure soar above them and vanish into the trees. The first official account came from Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steve and Mary Mallette, who reported encountering a bird-like creature with glowing red eyes that seemed to follow their car. The story was published in the Point Pleasant Register. Like the Chernobyl accounts, many locals spoke of receiving mysterious phone calls and experiencing vivid, disturbing nightmares. Interestingly, the sightings ceased almost entirely after the bridge collapsed.
Author J.M. Connor, in his book America’s Beastiary, asserted that there were more than 100 documented sightings of the mysterious creature between 1966 and 1967. However, folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand, among others, accused Connor of inventing many of these accounts, as they often lacked verifiable sources. Intriguingly, when the Ohio UFO Investigators revisited Connor’s sources, they found that the witnesses recounted the same stories as they had originally.
7. Multiple UFOs and Humanoid Figures After the 2010 Chile Earthquake
On the night of a devastating earthquake in Chile in 2010, at least 16 UFO sightings were reported by locals in the affected area. UFO researcher Rodrigo Fuenzalida extensively investigated these claims, including one from a couple who abandoned their apartment after witnessing an object as bright as the Moon hovering nearby. Similar accounts were reported by others in the region.
Even more bizarre were the sightings of towering humanoid figures by a group of bus passengers in Iquique. They described encountering “luminous men” who appeared out of thin air. Fuenzalida noted that many people had seen these mysterious figures but were reluctant to come forward, fearing disbelief.
Adding to the mystery, an online discussion board featured a report from a woman who, on the morning of the earthquake, opened her door to see three humanoid figures, each 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) tall, walking toward a body of water about 100 meters (330 ft) away. She described them as dark blue, slender, and slightly glowing.
6. Unusual Sightings and Phenomena After the 2011 Japanese Tsunami
The 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan were witnessed globally as they unfolded. In the aftermath, UFO and paranormal researchers scrutinized hours of news footage, identifying numerous unexplained anomalies and objects. A cigar-shaped object was clearly seen hovering above the Fukushima Nuclear Plant, while a similar object was filmed moving over land as the tsunami waters surged. Days before the disaster, four mysterious objects were reported hovering over Haneda Airport.
Beyond UFOs and strange lights, several videos appeared to capture bizarre creatures, leading some to speculate that the disaster had awakened entities from another realm. One notable video, uploaded to YouTube, depicted a ghostly figure emerging from the water, climbing onto a rooftop, and disappearing. Experts analyzed the footage, which was filmed along the Okawa River in Kesennuma by a man named Kenichi Murakami.
Experts concluded that the video was authentic (the figure was not digitally added) but likely depicted an unidentified vapor.
5. The Freiburg Shrieker - Germany, 1978
Legend has it that a routine day in the Freiburg mines in September 1978 turned into a life-saving encounter for a group of miners. Upon arriving for work, they found the mine entrance blocked by a bizarre, black, winged creature draped in what appeared to be a dark cape. As they cautiously approached, the entity emitted a horrifying scream, described as sounding like “fifty people screaming in unison,” prompting the miners to retreat.
The miners waited at a safe distance for nearly an hour, unsure of their next move, when a sudden underground explosion echoed through the area. The mine they were supposed to be working in had collapsed. Had they entered as planned, they would have all perished.
It seemed the mysterious figure had intervened to save their lives by preventing their entry into the mine. While it couldn’t avert the mine’s collapse, it succeeded in turning a potential human tragedy into a mere economic loss. In a strange turn of events, many of the workers reportedly experienced severe psychological issues in the months following the encounter.
This story has posed a challenge for researchers attempting to verify its authenticity. While there are purported photographs of the miners, none of the accounts specify the name of the mine involved. Freiburg was home to numerous mines at the time, and the individuals are only vaguely referred to as workers, with no names provided. Given the extraordinary nature of the event and the absence of fatalities, it appears no official records of the incident were ever filed.
4. The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami—A Consequence of Secret Experiments?
The 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, was the most powerful in four decades, resulting in 300,000 fatalities. Some theorists have suggested that the disaster was not a natural occurrence but the result of military experiments conducted beneath the ocean’s surface.
Australian researcher Joe Vialls, in his article “Did New York Orchestrate The Asian Tsunami?”, argued that creating such an event through underwater explosions would be relatively straightforward. Canadian professor Michel Chossudovsky highlighted that the US Navy seemed to have prior knowledge of the tsunami, issuing warnings to its Diego Garcia base. Remarkably, despite being directly in the tsunami’s path, the base reported no damage or casualties.
Reports of unusual lights and UFO activity in the region have persisted for years, with several sightings occurring just before the 2004 disaster. Local fishermen also observed strange aerial phenomena and frequently experienced radio interference while at sea.
3. Mysterious Sounds and Phenomena During Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 were both devastating, causing significant loss of life and widespread destruction. In the days leading up to these storms, strange lights were reportedly seen in areas later affected by the hurricanes.
In the days leading up to Hurricane Sandy in New York, numerous residents reported seeing strange lights in the sky. NBA player Deron Williams, one of the most notable witnesses, publicly stated he observed a “green flash across the sky” shortly after the storm struck. Additionally, there were accounts of unusual metallic humming sounds, prompting speculation that Sandy might have been linked to government weather manipulation experiments, particularly the HAARP program. Some even connected the event to a 1997 training exercise named “Project Sandy,” which simulated responses to such disasters.
Similar lights were reported in August 2005 before Hurricane Katrina, with sightings of a fleet of UFOs off the Louisiana coast. After the disaster, a cigar-shaped craft was seen hovering over the devastated areas, seemingly inspecting the damage. In the years following Katrina, there were also claims of UFO sightings and even alien abductions occurring during the storm’s destruction of New Orleans.
2. Winged Creature Spotted Before I-35W Bridge Collapse
Some believe the same creature spotted 40 years earlier during the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant was seen near the I-35W Bridge in the weeks before its 2007 collapse, which killed 13 people and injured over 100. This tragedy, one of Minnesota’s worst, is largely attributed to poor maintenance and overlooked design flaws in the bridge.
Days after the collapse, the Coast To Coast AM radio show received multiple calls from locals who claimed to have seen a mysterious winged creature near the bridge in the preceding weeks. One caller described a Bigfoot-like figure holding a large stick, while another reported seeing a creature with a wingspan comparable to a family car. Both sightings occurred in late June, roughly a month before the bridge’s collapse.
Similar sightings were reported in Minnesota in 1968. Larry Hawkins claimed to have encountered a “hairy hominoid” while driving, and Brad Steiger investigated and documented these and other strange sightings in the area. Unusual aerial phenomena were also reported that year.
1. Mysterious Lights and Objects Spotted Before the 2013 Oklahoma Tornado
On May 20, 2013, a massive tornado, 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) wide, tore through Oklahoma, claiming 91 lives and obliterating buildings and entire streets, leaving them as if they had vanished.
Just 48 hours before the disaster, numerous reports emerged of glowing, mysterious objects and lights hovering over Moore, Oklahoma. Some witnesses described them as a “fleet” of UFOs moving in formation. While initial theories suggested they were paper lanterns, many ufologists later speculated their presence was a warning of the impending catastrophe.
Similar sightings were reported the previous year in Oklahoma, according to the National UFO Research Center. One account from Moore in June 2012 described a “fireball object.” Most UFO reports in this region focus on strange lights rather than solid objects.
Whether the lights seen before the 2013 tornado were coincidental remains a mystery. Skeptics argue they were unrelated, while researchers suggest a possible connection to the disaster.
