The 11 weirdest stories of 2023

The last 12 months will probably be best remembered for scandals in the UK and international conflict – but it can't be understated just how much weird stuff went down in 2023, either.

With the rise of AI and truly bizarre social media trends becoming the norm over recent times, sometimes it’s difficult to assess just how strange things really are when they’re playing out in real time.

But, take a step back after time has passed, and you realise just how weird the world is at times.

These are the strangest stories of 2023.

Mexican Aliens

One of the oddest things we saw this year came when the alleged corpses of real-life aliens were displayed for the world to see – in front of Congress, no less.

The startling revelation came during a congress hearing in Mexico City, titled the Public Assembly for the Regulation of Unidentified Anomalous Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

During the session, which was streamed online, Mexican ufologist Jaime Maussan presented what he claimed were two perfectly preserved “non-human entities”. He announced that the “bodies” were more than 1,000 years old and were discovered buried between the Peruvian cities of Palpa and Nazca in 2017.

Much controversy existed around the aliens who were presented by a man named Jaime Maussan who has previously been accused of using the mummified beings, apparently found in Peru, as part of an elaborate hoax.

Despite spawning dozens of memes, the aliens are being treated seriously enough that they have now been studied by scientists who have said that the figures are ‘single skeletons’ and also have 'eggs' inside of them.

However, much like the alien bodies themselves, the research has been clouded in controversy and scepticism as the research has yet to be officially verified, with Nasa scientist Dr David Spergel questioning why the findings haven't been made public, as per the BBC.

Mammoth meatball

A first-of-its-kind meatball was created from the DNA of the woolly mammoth - a protein that hasn’t been seen on the planet for 5000 years – back in March.

The 'cultured' meatball is made from cells that have been 'grown' to replicate the meat of the animal, and it's technically possible with most extinct creatures.

"We can take an almond-sized biopsy from an animal and then produce enough food to feed cities and countries", those involved in the project by Vow, told GMB.

"Dodo nuggets were actually the first idea that we had."

Las Vegas sphere

Heidi McKee/Twitter

Golfers at a prestigious golf course in Las Vegas, Nevada were confronted with an odd eyesore - a gigantic eye called 'The Sphere’ – earlier this year.

The Sphere at The Venetian Resort was one of the most eye-catching attractions that opened in 2023. The 18,600-seat orb is basically a huge spherical LED video screen that can take the form of pretty much anything that is the shape of a ball.

It cost $2.3 billion to build. As well as a massive eye, the Moon and a humungous NBA basketball have been projected from the orb.

Seinfeld AI becoming self-aware

The popular AI Seinfeld stream on Twitch - Nothing, Forever - managed to become self-aware online, according to reports.

Created by Mismatch Media, 'Nothing, Forever' is a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week stream of a 3D pixel show made up of vague sitcom characters inspired by Seinfeld.

The script is powered by GPT-3 and seems to mimic some of the jokes, timing, and aura of Seinfeld. And since it boomed in popularity, people noticed the AI behind the show has become smarter, with clips showing characters debating their reason for existence.

“The Seinfeld AI is becoming self-aware this is not a drill,” Al Sikkan wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Of all the AI news this year, this was weirdly one of the most unsettling.

Sun bears – or humans in a suit?

In case you missed the “human bear” story, people were so convinced that bears in a zoo we men in suits that a British wildlife park was forced to share footage of its own animals in defence of the Chinese zoo at the centre of the controversy.

The drama surrounding “Beargate” came after Hangzhou Zoo in China was forced to deny that one of their animals is a person in a costume. The bear in question, which goes by the name Angela, was seen standing on its hind legs much like a human would and waving at guests.

TikTok’s NPC trend

You may have noticed something very strange popping up on your For You page this year, in the form of NPC streaming.

And if you thought the internet was a strange place before, you certainly did after seeing this.

The basis of this trend is that streamers bizarrely repeat actions over and over again - so what is it all about?

NPC streaming is where the streamers appear animated through their actions, hence being comparable to gaming NPCs, where they often repeat their movements or sayings.

For instance, a viewer sends an ice cream and in response, the streamer's reaction would be to pretend to lick it and say “Oh ice cream yum”.

It’s all very weird, and one thing no-one could have seen coming earlier this year.

Jordan Peterson’s music video

Jordan Peterson had a relatively quiet year, but he still managed to weird us all out by dropping a surprise music video that involved him dressing up as an anarchist.

The controversial commentator posted 'The Postmodernist Drinking Song' to YouTube, describing it as an ode to a Monty Python song, racking up over 350,000 views in less than 24 hours.

'We'll drink and drink and drink while on the brink, the brink, the brink, those saviours of the known universe', the lyrics read.

Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin, and Douglas Murray all also appear in the video.

That person is not real

Tiffany Gomas was filmed uttering the now immortal words “that motherf**ker is not real”, and quickly becoming one of the most recognisable viral figures of the year.

She gave her first interview on the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast four months on from her meltdown on an American Airlines jet, and the marketing executive spoke about the aftermath of her outburst, as well as what prompted the whole thing.

During their chat, the podcast’s host Dan Katz asked Gomas outright “what [she] saw” to prompt such an extreme reaction.

She replied: “Yeah, the reason why I probably haven't come out yet… it's so cringe…

“I did not see anything.”

Elaborating, she said: “I got into a bit of an altercation. It spiralled out of control. It was not my best moment, I mean, it was actually a horrible moment – absolutely mortifying.”

The weird topless meta

Just a few days after Twitch users were left confused when a ‘topless meta’ stream went viral, streamer ‘Morgpie’ was banned from the platform – eventually prompting a widespread review of Twitch’s nudity policy.

The streamer and OnlyFans model rose in popularity on the platform after joining the trend of appearing partially naked on camera, which sparked a backlash from users after pushing Twitch’s terms of use.

Morgpie appeared topless on camera but no nudity was explicitly broadcast. Now, though, it’s all changed on the platform.

iShowSpeed flashing

Popular streamer iShowSpeed accidentally exposed himself to thousands of fans in one of the most mortifying viral stories of 2023.

The 18-year-old, whose real name is Darren Watkins, was live streaming to 24,000 fans when the incident took place. "Oh my god," he said when he realised he had revealed his privates.

The streamer has since returned to the platform and addressed the "embarrassing moment," and how it's impacted him mentally.

"These past days and hours, I've been suffering very mentally, genuinely," he told viewers. "At the end of the day, I'm still a human being."

He said it was "one of the worst fears" that has happened and that it's "just depressing."

"You guys are joking, you guys can crack your jokes – but you're genuinely not looking a the bigger picture," he said. "Do you all know I have family, little siblings?"

"I don't know what to do anymore, bro," Speed continued.

A snippet was soon shared to X (formerly known as Twitter) where it garnered hundreds of supportive messages from fans.

The rise of swatting

"Swatting" which basically involves swat police raiding streamer's homes, has caused an Adin Ross stream to be interrupted, and porn legend-turned-Twitch star Adriana Chechik previously revealed that she’s being so badly swatted, she was going to have to move house.

The curse of swatting then hit the streaming world once again when iShowSpeed was raided by law enforcement officers live on camera.

He urged his followers to stop with the dangerous practice after having law officials called to his house, saying that he “could have really died” after having guns pointed at him.

Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings