This Week's Weird News 5/8/26

A weird UFO seen over Western Canada, a South Korean mountain inadvertently 'cursed' by a TV fortune teller, and a bizarre zebra hoax involving a donkey with stripes painted on it were among the weird and wondrous stories to cross our desk this past week.

UFOs and their perceived occupants headlined several stories this past week, beginning with actress Goldie Hawn sharing a remarkable and vivid account of what she believes was an encounter with alien beings during the 1960s. Later in the week, a mysterious glowing blob was seen floating across the sky of Western Canada by multiple witnesses who were left scratching their heads at the puzzling sight. Meanwhile, in an interview with Stephen Colbert, former President Barack Obama once again dismissed UFO and alien conspiracy theories by insisting that the 'powers that be' could not keep such secrets. To that end, on Friday, the federal government released a slew of previously unseen UFO files, photos, and videos, though no smoking gun as far as ETs are concerned.

A South Korean mountain found itself at the center of an odd story this past week thanks to a fortune teller's endorsement that went askew. After the popular TV mystic appeared on a variety show and told viewers they could improve their luck by climbing the country's Gwanaksan Mountain. The claim sparked something of a craze with thousands of young people flocking to the site in the hopes of finding good fortune and, of course, documenting their visit on social media. Alas, the mountain's proverbial fifteen minutes of fame have resulted in careless visitors leaving trash strewn all over the place and even one miscreant who spray-painted a popular resting rock with a message mocking the location's purported positive power.

By far the most bizarre story of the week came from Albania, where a prankster painted stripes on a donkey and fooled people into thinking that it was an escaped zebra. The wild hoax, which occurred in the country's capital city of Yerevan, began when the seemingly exotic animal suddenly appeared on a major thoroughfare. Sharing footage of the striped creature, a local media outlet quickly reported that, in an "extraordinary incident," a zebra had escaped from the city zoo. To what one imagines was their profound embarrassment, the website subsequently posted a retraction when the facility reached out and explained that they had been duped by a hooligan with a donkey and some hair dye.

For more strange and unusual stories from the past week, check out the Coast to Coast AM website.