Were There Any UFO Sightings?

New cases of the inexplicable disorder, dubbed “Sleepy Hollow,” have appeared in Kalachi, the village in Kazakhstan where every tenth villager, including children, has mysteriously fallen asleep in broad daylight, some unable to wake up for days on end.

[...]

The first cases of the "sleeping epidemic" were reported in March 2013. Everyone in the village has a family member or a friend who has fallen asleep for no apparent reason, according to locals.

[...]

"Of the 218 families, 124 expressed a desire to relocate. Thirty-four families (95 people), including 27 children, have already left the village," he said.

  RT

To spread the disease.

One might imagine that the initial reaction to an unknown, unidentified disease would be to quarantine and keep people in. Call me crazy.

Last month Professor Leonid Rikhvanov, from the Department of Geo-ecology and Geo-chemistry in the city of Tomsk, said that Soviet-era uranium mines could be to blame, with radon gas from the nearby mines seeping to the surface, poisoning local residents.

Could be. But what if it’s something else?  Something communicable.

While radiation levels in the town and at the mine closest to it are at a normal 16 micro-roentgen per hour, the RTD team's Geiger counter showed an alarming 268 micro-roentgen per hour at an abandoned, filled-in mineshaft further from the village. However, an independent analysis of Kalachi's water, soil, and vegetation samples did not detect any abnormalities.

So, are all these sick people going out for picnics at the contaminated mine?

People have described further symptoms, including hallucinations, memory loss, dizziness and nausea.

Okay, I wouldn’t want that (at least not the dizziness and nausea - I already have memory loss, and hallucinations could be fun), but falling asleep for days sounds like a gift to me.

While children are being treated for toxic encephalopathy (a brain malfunction), adults are said to have suffered strokes. But after several days in intensive care, they are usually back to normal – until they feel abnormally sleepy again. Some doctors assert that mass psychosis is to blame.

Or fairies.  Or aliens.

I do so like it when "doctors" "assert" things without proof.  Hey, we don't know what it is, then it must be mass psychosis.  Or fibromyalgia.

I wonder what their treatment for toxic encephalopathy is.  Is that a good idea?  I mean, since they don't know what the real issue is.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.