HUMAN MYSTERIES
Spontaneous Human Combustion. Cases of possible SHC were reported: in Ireland; some guy mysteriously caught fire in a San Francisco porn shop; and it was speculated that a Swedish man spontaneously combusted in a Gothenburg train station.
Boy wonder. Chase Britton was born without the cerebellum part of his brain, yet he thrives, baffling his doctors.
Twin operations. Twins John and Chris Atkins underwent the same kind of operation just one week apart.
RELIGIOUS PHENOMENA
End of the World. Harold Camping made his first prediction for the end of the world as May 21. When that didn't happen, he changed it to October 21. Wrong again.
Exorcism. People continued to be interested or even obsessed with demons and exorcism: The Discovery Channel announced their new show The Exorcist Files, and the Vatican quickly renounced any association with it; the movie The Rite starring Anthony Hopkins was released; a Massachusetts mom was accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter by stuffing roses down her throat during an exorcism; and the Catholic Church held an international conference on exorcism in Rome in March-April.
Miracles. A religious library in Reading, Ohio claimed a statue of the Virgin Mary was crying; and a girl came out of a coma after a priest touched holy water to her head.
Heaven sent. A three-year-old complaining of a stomach ache, underwent surgery, and claims to have visited heaven where angels sang to him.
Shroud of Turin. In June, an Italian art expert said the shroud was created by Giotto in 1315. Then in December, an Italian study said it is the real thing -- the burial cloth of Jesus.
Ark of the Covenant. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Greece claimed that a group led by Nikolaos Kumardzis found the Biblical ark. Nothing released so far.
WEIRD SCIENCE
Alien life. In March, NASA scientist Dr. Richard B. Hoover said he found conclusive evidence of alien life - fossils of bacteria found in a rare class of meteorite.
Time travel. Engineer Vadim Alexandrovich Chernobrov claimed to have built a working time machine.
CELEBRITIES AND THE PARANORMAL
George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, told Seth Rogan that he believes the world is going to end in 2012.
Ashton Kutcher proclaimed that he believes the apocalypse will come in December 2012.
Lady Gaga said she is the reincarnation of her own aunt.
Sammy Hagar, a former lead singer for Van Halen, said in March that he had been abducted by aliens.
Ben Stiller said in March that he believes in ghosts and has lived in houses haunted by spirits.
Neve Campbell of Scream 4 said her former house in Los Angeles was haunted and she used to see a woman who had been murdered in the home.
Sandra Bullock, in June, said she feared that her temporary home in London was haunted.
Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul reported that their Dallas hotel room was haunted.
Paula Abdul reportedly hired a witch doctor to cleanse her home of spirits.
Pete Doherty, The Libertines and Babyshambles singer, said he was being haunted by the ghost of Amy Winehouse.
Demi Moore received advice from a psychic to leave Ashton Kutcher.
