0:00:02 > 0:00:04# Marauding mice and walls of ice
0:00:04 > 0:00:06# Sharks on a golfing spree
0:00:06 > 0:00:08# Cicadas swarms and Martian storms
0:00:08 > 0:00:10# And fish walking out of the sea
0:00:10 > 0:00:12# Elks in trees and foaming seas
0:00:12 > 0:00:15# And giant mayfly mobs
0:00:15 > 0:00:17# Zombie snails and friendly whales
0:00:17 > 0:00:18# And completely frozen frogs. #
0:00:18 > 0:00:19You what?!
0:00:19 > 0:00:21# Wild and weird, wild and weird
0:00:21 > 0:00:24# Really, really wild and really, really weird
0:00:24 > 0:00:26# Wild and weird, wild and weird
0:00:26 > 0:00:27# Really, really wild
0:00:27 > 0:00:30# And really, really wild and weird. #
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Coming up on today's show, some eerie events.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36An island invaded by a moving carpet.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39The city that went all Martian overnight.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41And the cloud that looks like a UFO.
0:00:52 > 0:00:53That is weird.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01That is weird. That is the weirdest thing I have ever seen.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03What is?
0:01:03 > 0:01:05- That is.- There's nothing there.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Exactly.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10My Nanny Hughes sent me a large chocolate cake.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12I left it there for just five minutes.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Now I have returned here, and it is completely missing.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19- Oh, well that is rather strange, isn't it?- Mmm.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23- What is that?!- Er...
0:01:23 > 0:01:25- Eye-liner?- On your chin?
0:01:25 > 0:01:29I wasn't wearing my glasses. Anyway, shall we watch some TV?
0:01:29 > 0:01:32I've got some other eerie events you might be interested in.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36- I'll get some popcorn.- Oh, no, don't bother. I'm quite full.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41We're off to Australia, and just look at what happened
0:01:41 > 0:01:45to its largest city Sydney one morning in 2009.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47From country to city,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50people woke up this morning to an eerie red haze,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53the likes of which many had never seen before.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Someone, or something, had really painted the town red.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Are you sure that's Sydney? It looks more like Mars.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02No, definitely Sydney.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06And its citizens were recording these eerie events.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09It's unbelievable!
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Absolutely amazing.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17It's 6.30 in the morning. Look at this town.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22I woke up, and I was like, what is going on?
0:02:22 > 0:02:24This is, you know, like the Apocalypse,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27or it's like Armageddon has actually hit Earth.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Nate Johnston documented a bizarre commute to work.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33It was really eerie.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36I catch the same ride, you know all the scenery,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and not being able to see anything in front of you
0:02:39 > 0:02:41was almost a bit freaky.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45That is crazy.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I know! Everything is red.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52Getting the M40 bus at 7.20 in the morning, with rush-hour traffic!
0:02:52 > 0:02:54What a sucker for punishment.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56He should have changed at Milson's Point
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and then got the ferry across and then walked - much quicker.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Oh. Have you lived in Sydney?
0:03:01 > 0:03:02No, I've never been.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04I tell you what was crazy though.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Did you see all the red stuff? What was up with that?
0:03:09 > 0:03:14Well, the source of this incredible phenomenon lay 1,500 miles away,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18deep in the heart of Australia's outback. Dust.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Iron rich and deep red,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24this is what had caused Sydney's extraordinary transformation.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Dust carried all the way from the remote desert centre
0:03:27 > 0:03:31by a storm of truly epic proportions.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Atmospheric scientist Craig Strong is a keen follower of these storms.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39I reckon a good dust storm is one you can taste.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41You know, you can taste it in your mouth,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43you can roll it in your teeth,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47and you can say, yes, that's about 10 microns in size.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49What's a micron?
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It's an internationally recognised standard unit of length
0:03:52 > 0:03:55- equalling 0.001mm.- Yeah.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58What's a micron?
0:03:58 > 0:04:00It's a way of measuring dust.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Yeah. Oh, yeah, I knew that. Yeah.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Craig predicted the storm's arrival.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10He'd been watching the signs develop for several months.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13We had floods in January bring sediment
0:04:13 > 0:04:15into the inland parts of Australia.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20We had droughts in the arid and semi-arid parts of Australia.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25And then we had a really intense cold front move through.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27It created very strong winds.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29All the conditions were right to produce
0:04:29 > 0:04:31an incredibly large dust storm.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36In fact, the storm contained around 16 million tonnes of dust.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39That's enough dust to...
0:04:39 > 0:04:40I'll stop you there.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Please, allow me. I've got this. Oh, yes.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Yes, you see, extrapolating from your initial valuation
0:04:47 > 0:04:51of 16 million tonnes, which is here, OK?
0:04:51 > 0:04:54And taking into account the atmospheric gases,
0:04:54 > 0:04:58which we in the maths circle refer to as wind,
0:04:58 > 0:05:03I have deduced that that storm had enough mass and velocity to...
0:05:05 > 0:05:08..strip the flesh from your bones!
0:05:12 > 0:05:15I think you might have made a small error in your calculations, Tim.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18How dare you?
0:05:18 > 0:05:20A maths genius is never wrong.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25What we can say with a degree of accuracy
0:05:25 > 0:05:30is that the storm was 600 miles long and 300 miles wide.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33A monstrous cloud rolling across Australia.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Stripping the flesh from everything in its path.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41As it travelled across the country,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44stunned Australians recorded the incredible spectacle.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46It's absolutely amazing.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48There's no way they'll drive into that.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51They'd never survive, no way. Turn around any second.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55That is going to strip the flesh from their bones in a flash.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58They'll turn around any second. Watch this, they will.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00They're just going to turn around now...
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Um... Oh!
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- Oh, their flesh has been ripped from them!- They were fine.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08It might look like the end of the world,
0:06:08 > 0:06:13- but in fact the storm was absolutely harmless.- Oh, really?
0:06:13 > 0:06:15And, rather than flee in terror,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18the residents of Sydney went about their day as normal,
0:06:18 > 0:06:19thankful to be part of one of
0:06:19 > 0:06:22the most remarkable natural spectacles on Earth.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23Or Mars.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25It was phenomenal.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29You know, being able to witness such a phenomenon.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34I don't think I will in my lifetime again, to be honest.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Do you know what?
0:06:40 > 0:06:43That reminds me about another eerie tale of a place turning red.
0:06:43 > 0:06:44Oh, yeah?
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Only this time it's set on the shores of Christmas Island.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49- I love Christmas Island!- Do you?
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Snow, reindeer, fir trees... Oh...
0:06:52 > 0:06:56You don't really know where Christmas Island is, do you?
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Er...duh! Tim!
0:06:58 > 0:07:00It's in the North Pole!
0:07:00 > 0:07:01Obviously.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Yeah. OK...
0:07:04 > 0:07:09Christmas Island. A remote tropical paradise in the Indian Ocean.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15Surrounded by crystal blue seas and covered with lush, green jungle.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20- So, no elves then? - No, no elves.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24However, there is something equally fantastic because once a year,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28those blue seas and green jungles are invaded by this.
0:07:30 > 0:07:36A blanket of red creeping across the land like an eerie moving carpet.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41- It's happened. It's finally happened!- What's happened? What?!
0:07:41 > 0:07:42It's the baked bean invasion.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45I warned them this would happen but they didn't believe me.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Phone your mum and dad, tell them to run for the hills.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51- What are you going on about?- Mum? I told you the day would come!
0:07:51 > 0:07:54- It's the baked... - They're not baked beans!
0:07:54 > 0:07:56The... Baking day.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Yeah.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02Just wanted to make sure you knew, that's all. Bye.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Yes, they're not baked beans.
0:08:05 > 0:08:06What are they then?
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Well, if you look a little bit closer you'll see
0:08:09 > 0:08:14that they're actually millions upon millions of baby red crabs.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Where have they all come from?
0:08:16 > 0:08:19They've emerged from the sea
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and are heading for the jungle where they will grow into adults crabs.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28This island is the only place in the world these particular crabs
0:08:28 > 0:08:32are found, and they've been so successful here it's estimated
0:08:32 > 0:08:37there may be up to 30 million of them living on the island.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Their annual march takes them straight through the local village.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Imagine having all of those turn up on your doorstep.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47I know, and that's only half the story.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Because when they've grown up and become adult crabs,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54they make the journey back in the other direction.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Heading for the sea to mate and lay their eggs,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01starting this amazing life cycle all over again.
0:09:01 > 0:09:02Whoo-hoo!
0:09:02 > 0:09:06So, if you ever go for a stroll on Christmas Island,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09you might want to tread carefully.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10Hey, Tim.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14- Why wouldn't the crab share his toys?- Go on.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Because he was shellfish!
0:09:17 > 0:09:22- That's terrible.- Oh, come on. Don't get crabby.- All right, all right.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Listen, if I show you something else eerie,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26do you promise you'll stop with the crab puns?
0:09:26 > 0:09:28OK. But make it snappy!
0:09:37 > 0:09:41These next natural events are so strange and eerie
0:09:41 > 0:09:45they simply defy all explanation.
0:09:45 > 0:09:46Look at this.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Mystical balls of fluff that hover in the air.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Um, those are clouds, Tim.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Condensed water vapour. Nothing mysterious about that.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Ah, but have you ever seen a cloud like this?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03- We're back in Australia, in a place called Burketown.- Burketown?!
0:10:03 > 0:10:04Leave it!
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Every spring, if you look up,
0:10:06 > 0:10:08you'll see these eerie clouds,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10unexplainable rolling pin shapes,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13destined to remain a mystery for ever.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16That is a morning glory cloud.
0:10:16 > 0:10:17How do you know that?
0:10:17 > 0:10:20- My mate Gavin told me.- Who's Gavin?
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Gavin is a cloud spotter extraordinaire.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28A cloud spotter?!
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Yes, it's like a train spotter, only with clouds.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32And what can he tell us?
0:10:32 > 0:10:35It's not like clouds are the expressions on the face
0:10:35 > 0:10:37of the atmosphere, is it?
0:10:37 > 0:10:41The clouds are expressions on the face of the atmosphere.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Yes, but you can't really read those expressions, can you?
0:10:44 > 0:10:46It's not like a person.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51And they can be read like the expressions on the face of a person.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Yes, well that's his opinion, isn't it?
0:10:57 > 0:11:00When it arrives, this cloud looks very dramatic.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03You see this tube rolling along towards you,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07and then as it passes over, the sky becomes overcast,
0:11:07 > 0:11:12and then as it moves on, the sky clears again,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14so it's quite an experience
0:11:14 > 0:11:17when one of these morning glory clouds passes over.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Yeah, but does he know how they're made?
0:11:21 > 0:11:25- The peninsular gets heated up by the sun during the day.- Oh, he does.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29The sea breezes come in both sides, collide, and set off this wave.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Within that wave of air, a roll of cloud can form.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35OK, OK.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37I'll give him that one, but what about this?
0:11:37 > 0:11:41An ominous cloud that rises up from the earth
0:11:41 > 0:11:44like a giant monstrous mushroom.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46What's that then, Gavin?
0:11:46 > 0:11:50The cumulo-nimbus is known as the king of clouds.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55This is because of its size.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58It can reach 10, 12 miles up into the sky.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06The energy within one of these enormous cumulo-nimbus clouds
0:12:06 > 0:12:11is equivalent to the energy of ten atom bombs.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13All right, all right.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16If he gets this one, I will eat my hat.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Because these spooky saucer-shaped clouds
0:12:19 > 0:12:25are 100% certain to remain unidentified flying objects.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27The lenticularis cloud.
0:12:35 > 0:12:40The process that causes them to form is all to do with the wind,
0:12:40 > 0:12:44the air having to rise to pass over a mountain.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48They can look remarkably like UFOs,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50so you have one disc here
0:12:50 > 0:12:53and then almost a little gap and then a disc on top,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57which looks rather like the sort of pod that the aliens would sit in,
0:12:57 > 0:12:58I suppose.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Is that all you've got then?
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Well, no.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06I've got one more for you actually.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07Have a look at this.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Look, see?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12There's a giraffe shaped one there.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I bet you can't tell me what those are.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16That is some cotton wool stuck on blue card
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- that you got Nathan the cameraman to film.- Impossible.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22How did you see through my brilliant deception?
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Because he's standing right there.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29- Shall we go and do something else? - Yeah.- Yeah.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31THUNDER CRASHES
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Now that really is eerie!
0:13:40 > 0:13:42# Wild and weird, wild and weird
0:13:42 > 0:13:45# Really, really wild and really, really weird
0:13:45 > 0:13:47# Wild and weird, wild and weird
0:13:47 > 0:13:48# Really, really wild
0:13:48 > 0:13:52# And really, really wild and weird. #
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Wild and weird!