What is something I know a bit about? Such was one question from this #weekend-engagement's array of thoughts. I have been noodling a bit about the past few days, and thought I could speak of accounting (boring), baseball statistics (a bit less boring), or even the Beatles (try harder, old man!). Instead, I thought I'd share my knowledge base of the concept of high strangeness.
First, I should probably define the phrase. High strangeness, as defined by Wiktionary, is "a quality of being peculiar, bizarre, utterly absurd." Think of it like this: you witness an unknown object in the sky. Later that night, dead relatives are standing in your room as alien beings lurk in the shadows. Somehow you eventually fall asleep, only to find the next day that a poltergeist is now in your home. Also, while walking to your vehicle in the morning, a wolf man is smoking a cigarette while leaning against your car. He sees you, spits out the cigarette, and leaps away.
Or something like that.
Believe it or not, there are quite a few stories like that. Having lived in this area of the world for most of my life, I've remembered a few incidents over the years for personal curiosity. I don't know how any of the phenomonmen manifests (if I had to guess, I'd say the culprit would be the merging of multiple universes/realities), but I have read and watched plenty of material that suggests there is something to the idea of high strangeness.
So what would Wisconsin high strangeness look like?
Well, there is this creature observed by a father and child in the city I live in:
Then of course the Holmen Mothman that I've never seen:
More famous would of course be the Beast of Bray Road sightings rash in the 1990's:
Finally, the infamous pancake incident of Eagle River:
Most of the stories border on the absurd and surreal. Yet why make up such stories when fame and fortune are not intended by those who report them?
I've tried to catalog not only Wisconsin stories, but all high strangeness stories when first encountered. Whether it's the crazy stuff that happened in Latrobe, Pennsylvania over the years, or the stories I've heard about lights crashing in and out of Lake Superior, I try to record it all in my head. Roll in the Skinwalker Ranch stuff with the written work of John Keel and Jacques Vallee, and I seem to feel like I've gotten a sense of the pattern.
Yet, like the phenomenon, a potential solution evavorates when you think you might have an idea of what is really going on. Perhaps that is by the design of the engineered reality we might live in. Who knows!?
So, if we were to ever meet in person for coffee or beers, I would have a whole catalog of curious incidents to share with you. Some people get into it; others, on the other hand, almost shut down when material like this is explained. I guess I can't blame them; a lot of it is ultimately absurd.
With that said, have you heard of the term high strangeness? Have you encountered anything highly strange before? Do you live in area with bizarre phenomomen about? Please share! I'd love to add any stories to my brain's database!
Hoping everyone out there is having a wonderful weekend, too!