If you are looking for some inspiration for a story or two  or maybe you’re wondering if you really have to go to the other side of the world

to find the odd, the macabre and the strange- do what Mark and Mark from Weird NJ have done and start exploring your own back yard-

You might be surprised at what you could find there:

As a side note- below is  this blurb is my favorite clip.  It’s about an abandoned military Jet in the woods. The video is raw and it makes the story a little weird and creepy but it gets to me because of this:

 I grew up in a town, where in 1962 this happened ( from History Link. Org)

On April 21, 1962, during the Seattle Century 21 World’s Fair opening ceremonies, an Air Force F102 airplane crashed into the Mountlake Terrace neighborhood.

As part of the opening day ceremonies, 10 Air Force F102s with the 64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Paine Field near Everett did a flyby over the Century 21 fairgrounds.

Moments after the flyby, at 1,500 feet elevation, one of the planes’ engines flamed out. After two unsuccessful attempts to restart the engine, pilot Captain Joseph W. Wildt decided to ditch the F102 and headed it north towards Lake Washington. The pilot safely ejected but the plane missed the north end of the lake by three miles and crashed into a Mountlake Terrace neighborhood.

Site of Air Force F102 crash following World’s Fair opening day ceremonies, Mountlake Terrace, April 21, 1962

The crash killed Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Smith, destroyed two homes, and damaged five others. An investigation determined that Captain Wildt did not factor in the effect the loss of his weight would have on the plane’s trajectory.

Back at the Century 21 World’s Fairgrounds, no one realized there had been a tragedy, and the celebration continued.

The funny this is, my family moved there about 10 years after the crash and I remember kids talking about this and I also remember that a lot of adults said it wasn’t true and that the house in question just burned down. I still don’t know why some people spread the ‘house just burned down story ‘ and some people said it was ‘just a little plane and nobody died ‘ story.

It’s a mystery to me. Just like this: