Workers Down Tools At 'Haunted' Museum

Workers renovating an Italian museum have downed tools over claims that the building is haunted. The National Archaeological Museum, in Naples, has now invited paranormal experts from all over the world to get the the bottom of the mystery.Builders, who were working overnight in the museum, claimed that they heard soul-piercing screams, experienced plunging temperatures - and even saw ghosts. The architect responsible for the works, Oreste Albareno, tried to reassure staff by spending a night with them but ended up also being convinced it was haunted, Italian daily Il Mattino reports.He said: "I have managed to take a photo with my mobile phone - it shows a little girl but there was no little girl on the site. "None of the staff took a daughter with them - it is a secure locked site so there was no way the child could have sneaked in." The experts are now due to arrive in September to investigate.

Scorpion-Shaped UFO Seen In The Skies Over Los Cristianos, Spain

In one of the most unusual recent UFO sightings, a scorpion-shaped object was spotted in the skies above Los Cristianos, Spain on Saturday, August 21, 2011. Jamie O'Rourke saw the unidentified flying object near his home around 8:00am and managed to snap several photos before the object disappeared.An Internet search for scorpion-shaped kites did not reveal anything like the bizarre object seen in the photos on this page. A similar search for scorpion-shaped UFOs also revealed nothing. The strange unidentified flying object photographed in Los Cristianos seems to defy logic or explanation at this time.You can see from the photos that this UFO was elongated in shape and dark in color. It had two protruding appendages on one end that resembled the pincers or claws of a scorpion. On the opposite end, the UFO had a long tail that looked like the tail or stinger of a scorpion.

Barbershop Shut Down Due to Animal Sacrifices

Authorities shut down a Massachusetts barbershop after finding evidence of animal sacrifices, and the owner is claiming his religious freedoms have been violated.New Bedford barber William Camacho told WHDH-TV he practices Palo Mayobe, an Afro-Caribbean religion similar to Santeria. Animal control officers removed two chickens and four roosters, one dead, from the shop's basement, after fire and building inspectors found the birds during a safety inspection. Camacho, who said he was going to move the birds off the premises, says he does not sacrifice animals at the barbershop. “It’s very insulting to me,” he said. “’Because what happens is that -- where I come from, it’s very known -- and this town, it’s ignorant for them, ‘cause they don’t know what type of religion it is.”City officials say it's a health issue, not a religious one. “His barber shop isn’t closed because of his religion,” Mayor Scott Lang said. “It’s closed because of health violations, and he needs to get them straightened out in a hurry.” Camacho could still face animal cruelty charges and claims he's losing $700 a day. “I’m losing money and I’m waiting for the city to reopen me,” he said.Lang said a court may also decide if Camacho can sacrifice animals elsewhere in the city.

Baby Mermaid Dies In Camarines Norte

A baby girl born with fused legs resembling that of a mermaid died in Mercedes, Camarines Norte just hours after birth. Jane Sariba, 18, said she gave birth last July 31 inside their house in Barangay Matuog-tuog. She said she was surprised that her baby was born with fused legs, like a mermaid. Sariba said that during her pregnancy, she was an avid watcher of a TV soap opera that had a young mermaid as the lead character.She said she brought the baby to a hospital after the delivery but the baby died along the way. A neonatologist said the baby had sirenomelia, also known as mermaid syndrome, which is a very rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving them the appearance of a mermaid's tail.

Mystery Roadkill Prompts DNR Investigation

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials have been unable to identify a mystery carcass found in Douglas County with certainty, prompting further investigation. The dead white mammal was spotted this week on a Douglas County road with five claws, dark tufts of hair on its back and head and long toenails. Roadkill is nothing new for Minnesotans, but this curious creature got people talking. Lacey Ilse said she was driving near her home on County Road 86, south of Alexandria, when she spotted the mysterious mammal. "We saw something in the middle of the road, and we knew it wasn't a dog or a cat, because it didn't have hair. It had a clump of hair and all the rest was just white skin," Ilse said."it's ear was all mis-shaped. To me, it looked like half-human." Ilse said she soon posted pictures of the animal on Facebook, and rumors and speculation took off. "It just shot out like wildfire. everybody was putting it on their Facebook pages. And then, their friends were putting it on their pages," she said. Noelle Jones sent the pictures to KSAX Monday, and after posting them on the KSAX Facebook page that night, more than 175 comments have been posted about the unusual animal, with guesses ranging from a skunk, badger, wolverine, wolf, or even proof of the mythical chupacabra. Folks in Alexandria Wednesday had their own ideas. "First guess was a badger with like, a case of mange. But then, some other people were saying, like a chupacabra. and after looking at some pictures, I was like, 'you know, it's possible," Jones said. "It kinda looks like a 10-year-old wolf," Austin Becker of Alexandria said. "Almost looks like a pig, with paws? I don't know, or a wolf," Kaitlin Van Horn of Morris said.Glenwood DNR Area Wildlife Supervisor Kevin Kotts used the process of elimination to give his answer. "It's got five long front claws on each of its front feet, which would be characteristic of a badger," Kotts said. "I ran the pictures past a few other DNR folks that have a lot of trapping and/or fur-bare experience, and they all said, it's hard to be 100 percent sure what it is ... but if it's a Minnesota animal, it's probably a badger." But Ilse, and just about everyone else who has seen it, can't be so sure. "If you're looking at the top half, it definitely looks like a dog that's kind of been torn apart. But, I'm not sure what to make of the back part," Igor Simanovich of the Twin Cities said. "It's a strange animal and i hope we don't have anymore around here," Jane Murphy of Alexandria said. "You know how they do their government secret testing on animals? and I know it sounds crazy, but I've never seen an animal like this," Ilse said. Jason Abraham, with the Department of Natural Resources, said he thinks it may be a domestic dog, but he is still left with questions. "The head suggests a canine, very likely a domestic dog," Abraham said. "However, the right front foot appears to have five toes, which is not typical for canines. Also, the long toenails are not typical for an active canine." Ilse said some of her guinea hens and cats are missing and suspects the animal or others in the area may be to blame. Several burrowed holes ranging from four to ten inches in size were also spotted near where the animal was found. Ilse said Kotts was able to check the creature out Wednesday afternoon and said it's similar to a badger but has a much longer tail than usual, and took the carcass in for further testing.

Djinns Claim Man In Spooky Valley

A Saudi man is believed to have been gripped by jinn (ghosts) during a picnic with his friends in a valley which is reputed to be haunted. But he was later treated in an exorcist-style session by the Gulf Kingdom’s religious police. The unnamed man and seven friends from the western town of Makkah were vacationing in the nearby Taif city when they decided to descend into Wadi Al-Amak (the deep abyss) despite warnings by local people. After a short evening trip in the valley, the colour of the man’s began to change and his behavior became aggressive before he lost balance and fell down. When his friends tried to talk to him, he shouted and pushed them away while his eyes were fixed at an area deep in the valley. “Friends then overpowered him and washed his face with cold water…it was clear the man was haunted by a jinn,” Sabq Arabic language daily said.“They then decided to carry him back to town…they were told that the valley is haunted and that there were two similar cases in the past.” The paper said the man was taken to the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the most influential Islamic law-enforcement authority in the conservative Moslem Gulf nation. “The Commission brought experts in such cases and subjected the man to a session of Koran recitation and incense burning until the jinn was forced to get out of the man through his hand…once the session was over, the man began to restore his strength…after a while he fully recovered and started to ask his friends why he was brought to that place.”