This Week's Weird News 1/17/25 | Newsradio WTAM 1100 | Coast to Coast AM with George Noory – iHeart
Coast to Coast AM deals with UFOs, strange occurrences, life after death, and other unexplained phenomena.Full Bio
A UFO filmed above the Los Angeles wildfires, a ‘ghost island’ spotted by NASA, and a weird proposal to create Wyoming’s version of Mount Rushmore were among the weird and wondrous stories to cross our desk this past week.
A pair of peculiar stories about astonishing sights created by things bubbling up from the earth made headlines this past week. Off the coast of Azerbaijan, NASA satellites documented the life cycle of a ‘ghost island.’ Images captured over the course of around two years saw the eruption of a mud volcano submerged in the Caspian Sea, which created a tiny island that remained behind for several months before being nearly washed away in the most recent photo. In Argentina, a bewildered witness captured a seemingly inexplicable scene wherein a huge bubbling circle appeared on the water. His video of the event led to supernatural speculation online, but scientists quickly explained that the disturbance was due to the natural release of carbon dioxide from the bottom of a lake.
Photo: Getty Images
This past week featured a pair of strange stories surrounding the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. First, a local TV news helicopter filming the disaster inadvertently captured what appeared to be a UFO that an eagle-eyed viewer noticed and quickly posted online. As one might imagine, theories concerning the nature of the odd gray object included aliens, a drone, or simply something prosaic such as a plane that appeared otherworldly in the moment. Meanwhile, similar speculation simmered online regarding scenes of untouched trees standing in front of destroyed homes. Many conspiratorial individuals argued that this was a sign that the disaster was a directed attack. However, the phenomenon is actually a natural occurrence attributed to the trees’ thick bark and nonflammable sap.
Photo: Getty Images
Perhaps the weirdest story of the week came by way of Wyoming where lawmakers introduced a plan to create the state’s own version of a massive attraction akin to Mount Rushmore. The audacious idea, dubbed ‘Monument to America,’ is envisioned as a way of honoring historical Americans from the past 250 years. To that end, if the preliminary proposal gets passed by the state legislature, a special $40,000 task force would be created to develop the concept and find an appropriate location with the results of their report due on July 4th, 2026. Time will tell whether or not the state will move forward with actually creating a ‘Wyoming Rushmore’ or if it is merely some lawmakers’ whimsical dream.
For more strange and unusual stories from the past week, check out the Coast to Coast AM website.
