What is Spooky Geology?
Weirdness at the intersection between geological science
and beliefs about the earth
Mysterious earth phenomena
Geologic anomalies
Weird ideas about rocks, minerals, and the planet
I’ve been writing about the intersection of geology and strange ideas since 2017 and called it “Spooky Geology”. In 2024, I consolidated SpookyGeology.com with this main website.
Introduction to Spooky Geology
Spooky Geology content
- One of the most productive topics under my umbrella of Spooky Geology has been that of Earthquake Lights (EQLs). I began researching the best ā¦
- A quick post about some quirky geology today. Geodes are crystal-filled masses inside a larger body of rock. They are awesome. Scientists generally ā¦
- Of late, my interest has been in watching the definition of “cryptid” expand to include anything people deem mysterious and sentient. ā¦
- Please give a listen to one of my (very few) favorite podcasts, where I join Jeb and Blake to go In Research Of… of the science and depictions ā¦
- Science fiction and fantasy media regularly include magical or exaggerated substances as essential parts of the story. In this piece, I explore my ā¦
- Ok, so this is not great timing. As I write this (updated 7 April), there have been 39 earthquakes in central New Jersey beginning with a real ā¦
- A portion of the US population is getting nervous due to doomsayers spouting frightening rumors about the coming eclipse on April 8. Misinformation ā¦
- Originally published 14-October 2019 Many places on earth regularly seem to experience mysterious booming noises. Most often, these noises occur near ā¦
- Popular lore warns that if you take a rock or object from a sacred land, a curse will fall upon you until you return the object. What is the origin ā¦
- Media outlets are picking up and recirculating a thin story about an earthquake light (EQL) that was caught on video (actually, a video recording ā¦
- It’s been awfully cold in many parts of the US this week. As I tried to ignore the wicked wind outside, I thought, hmm, this is frost quake ā¦
- There is nothing better than when two of my favorite subjects collide. When I was scrolling #cryptidtok, I came across a video of a hole in the ā¦
- An earthquake measuring only 1.7 Ml shook many residents on Roosevelt Island, the Upper East Side, and Astoria, Queens on January 2, 2024. A loud ā¦
- Originally published May 2018. In 2018 Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, put on a big show with activity at Kilauea volcano on Hawaii. ā¦
- Coastal erosion reveals human remains on spooky islands that served as mass graves long ago. New York’s Island of the Dead Hart Island is New ā¦
- Claims of blue flashes and floating balls of light were associated with the strong quake of September 2023 in Morocco and almost every sizable ā¦
- On 21-March 2023 at 16:47 UTC, an M 6.5 earthquake was recorded in the Hindu Kush region, 40 km SSE of Jurm, Afghanistan (36.523Ā°N 70.979Ā°E). The ā¦
- With a flood of images and videos coming out of the affected area in southern and central Turkey and western Syria from the February 6, 2023 series ā¦
- January 22, 2023 was the height of a wave of social media posts about what people claimed were “electric rocks” found in the DR of Congo. ā¦
- A fun collection of rocks that look like food. I’ve been gathering pics of rock and mineral specimens that look remarkably like edibles. Have ā¦
- Itās a common claim by paranormalists that there are special places on earth where āenergyā whirls are responsible for strange phenomena reported at ā¦
- Many sites have been given the creepy name of “Devils Hole”. The most famous Hole is in Death Valley, Nevada, where a notch in the rock ā¦
- A series of giant earthquakes within the continental interior is strange in itself, but other notable phenomena associated with the New Madrid, ā¦
- Geomythology is the study of explanation myths related to actual geologic events that may have been witnessed by people. The Bible contains several ā¦
- The infamous Sessho-seki, a protected boulder in the volcanic area of Mount Nesu in Japan, has split. The break occurred around March 5, 2022. A ā¦
- Some residents of Silver Spring Township in southcentral PA began to experience booming noises days after heavy rain deluged the area in September ā¦
- The world is a noisy place. But some sounds shake you to your foundation. Mystery booms that come out of nowhere and have indiscernible sources scare ā¦
- August 2021Peabody, Massachusetts Residents of Peabody have been experiencing booming sounds that rattle their houses and nerves. A public meeting ā¦
- Maybe there is some crazy logic to the idea of a geologist examining the question of Hell as a real place. With the widespread belief that another ā¦
- On July 4, 2021 news started circulating about a huge explosion in the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan captured on video. The first information was relayed ā¦
- The colorful and dramatic accounts of the Oracle of Delphi in Greece spanning many centuries appear to be strongly related to the geological setting ā¦
- On April 18, 2021, the Northeast Archeological Resources Program posted a picture on their Facebook page of what appears to be a four-digit foot or ā¦
- The healing waters of Waukesha eventually led to woes as the fabled springs dried up and the groundwater was radioactive. In 1868, a tired, ā¦
- The Pine Barrens area of New Jersey has plenty of small lakes or ponds that people call “blue holes”. Because of the legends surrounding ā¦
- A geode infilled with milky blue quartz/agate bears an uncanny resemblance to Sesame Street’s infamous Cookie Monster. The rock was found ā¦
- The Fillmore underground fire is a patch of ground on private property just outside the Los Padres National Forest, in Ventura County, California. ā¦
- In Ardez, Switzerland, there is a flat slab of calcareous shist, sometimes referred to as limestone, whose surface is pitted. Legend has it that ā¦
- There are countless holes in the ground. Some have water. Some are just open void and darkness. When we canāt readily discern the depth, the hole ā¦
- We expect a certain dull, earthy, *chink* sound when rocks are hit with a hammer. We do not expect rocks to ring like metal bells, chimes or gongs ā¦
- If the land under you was sinking and falling at this rate, youād be worried too! Villagers of Batagay in Yakutia (Sakha Republic, Siberia) ā¦
- Pic de Bugarach in Aude, France, is a place that effortlessly combines natural wonder and legends. Add to its history a heaping portion of serious ā¦
- Once upon a time, adventurers into unknown lands feared quicksand – a deadly hazard that looked like a sand patch or a harmless puddle. Step in ā¦
- The photo of a mint-green, pristine pool in Lechuguilla cave circulating on social media resulted in expressions of speculation, wonder, and a desire ā¦
- For thousands of years, people have imparted metaphysical powers to crystals and rocks, using them as healing or protecting charms or talismans. ā¦
- The word ārock faceā is not usually to be taken literally. Yet, around the world, all cultures find familiar-looking forms that appear spontaneously ā¦
- Around the world, there are areas that have gained a reputation for being strange and mysterious because gravity appears to not work the same ā¦
- In the 1940s, Richard Shaver wrote about mysterious experiences he had in which he was receiving information from telepathic evil robots inside the ā¦
- In the late 19th century, Nebraska’s settlers came across bizarre, giant āstone screwsā vertically embedded in the ground. The big ones could ā¦
- We all can comprehend how rocks break apart due to heat and frost action and fall due to gravity. But, for a long while, there was a popular mystery ā¦
- All around the world are remnants of a party of epic proportions – Devils Punchbowls. Though, in some cases, the punching was taken more ā¦
- Several sinister and infamous places around the world have been named the Devil’s Gate and come with legends of murder, magic, and monsters. ā¦
- Something evil may be cooking up in places given the name of the āDevilās Kitchenā. In this piece, I examine some of the most famous locations that ā¦
- Devil’s Den is an infamous collection of large diabase boulders within the Gettysburg National Battlefield. In 1863, much blood was shed in the ā¦
- There are countless places in the world named after the Devil (and variations of an evil one in other words and languages). If variations are added ā¦
- From June into July of 2018, media coverage about 12 boys and an adult man trapped in a cave in Thailand transfixed people around the world. The ā¦
- Despite centuries of reports of anomalous luminous phenomena (ANP) – lights, glows, flames, sparks and clouds – before, during or after ā¦
- Perhaps some people have an exaggerated fear of sinkholes. The thought of the foundation falling out from under our feet is terrifying when the ā¦
- I gave an overview of Spooky Geology concepts in 2017 to my local geological society. I began the presentation by discussing the most absurd idea ā¦
- Springing from the spine of Arkansas’ Ouachita mountains are several commercial crystal mines open for public collecting of sizable quartz ā¦
- Devilās Tower in Wyoming had historically served as a beacon to land travelers. In 1977, it was portrayed as the bullseye for extraterrestrial ā¦
- In August 1986, approximately 1800 people living in a 15-mile radius of Lake Nyos in Cameroon didnāt live to see the morning, dying by suffocation ā¦
- A tenet of geology is that rocks are old. Therefore, objects of human origin embedded in rock suggest that the rock formed after the object was ā¦
- This version of my research into the “stone tape theory” was originally posted on my Spooky Geology blog in 2017. A version of the same ā¦
- The geologist will meticulously measure and sample an outcrop to discern information about it. What if there was a much easier, speedier way to ā¦
- There are many places around the world that locals have branded the āgate to hellā. One of the most dramatic examples is the Darvaza (Derweze) crater ā¦
- Dowsing or water divining doesnāt work any better than chance or through use of surface clues. So why does it still spark heated arguments and create ā¦
- Almost all minerals, gemstones and rock types are associated with some superstitious or supernatural motifs. A common twinning habit of the mineral ā¦
- Published February 2017 A few years ago, a paranormal investigator acquaintance who knew I was a geologist asked me what I thought about leylines ā¦
- For inducing fear and unease, dead things are big-time spooky. Geological factors can result in recording death in particularly captivating ways, ā¦
- Last updated 11-Sept-2024 Sometimes the earth splits open for no apparent reason. Itās pretty frightening to witness giant, miles-long ground cracks ā¦