How bizarre: 2001 was the weirdest year ever
Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday January 13, 2002
The Observer
First a giant stick insect, previously unknown to science and described as 'a walking sausage', was discovered on a remote Pacific island. Then the Beast of Cricklewood was captured and revealed to be a lynx on the loose in north London. And, finally, in southern Italy, it kept raining frogs.
It was, in short, a very odd year. Indeed, according to the Fortean Times, 2001 was a total record-breaker for nuttiness. Its Weirdness Index, which FT compiles every year, shot off the scale.
Suicides, epidemics and disasters all increased. Cults were more active, particularly in the wake of the 11 September attacks, while the British weather simply went haywire. Last summer was the wettest on record while October was the hottest.
In addition, a completely new species of giant shark was photographed in the Pacific, off Colombia; crocodiles were spotted in New York, Vienna and Sweden; and a coelacanth, a fish once thought to have been extinct for millions of years, was caught off the Kenyan coast.
There were, however, fewer sightings of that ultimate alien artefact, the crop circle - though those observed were bigger and more complex than in previous years. 'We certainly don't think aliens constructed them,' said Bob Rickard, FT 's founder. 'It looks as though gangs of crop-circle "artists" are now competing with each other to make new and ever more sophisticated circles.'
It was also a bumper year for frog-falls in Italy. 'Some say these frogs were probably dropped by birds of prey, but in every case, the frogs were all of the same species and age,' said Rickard. 'Synchronised vomiting by herons is a very unlikely explanation.
'Weirdness is humanity's way of overcoming the ever-increasing pressure to live nine-to-five lives. We need craziness, it's that simple.'
