Glenn Albrecht was mowing his lawn when he came across a strange creature.
It's since been identified as an alien life form. Wait, wait, wait. Before you panic, become a prepper and head for the basement, we're just kidding.
While it may not be an alien, it is apparently a fairly rare insect known as a mountain katydid.
Glen found it on his five-acre property called Wallaby Farm at Duns Creek, just south of Paterson.
"It looks like it comes from the Permian - some ancient lineage of things that's been on the Earth for a couple of million years but hasn't changed much - a bit like an insect dinosaur," he said.
"You don't often see a creature the size of a matchbox crawling over the lawn in front of you." [Or a possible robot insect from a horror film]
He said there were "some extremely beautiful aspects of this big, ugly weevil-like creature".
"If you touch them or cause them to become alarmed, they reveal on their abdomen bands of beautiful colours. They're quite incredible to see in that respect."
This so-called "startle display" helps defend against predators.
Towing a 'luxury hotel'
As well as spotting strange insects, Glenn is known for his work as an environmental philosopher and scholar.
When we phoned him, he was working on an essay on solastalgia and psychiatry for a book chapter. The professor invented the word solastalgia, which means "a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change". [Think last year's bush fires, for example]
Anyhow, Glenn pointed us to his latest blog post titled, "Psychoanalysis and Camping" on his website Psychoterratica.
"Gone are the days where camping consisted of a shelter tent for two carried in a backpack," Glenn wrote.
"Today, in Australia and many other parts of the world, camping represents a huge quotient of carbon dioxide on wheels.
"Massive internal combustion vehicles with extremely poor fuel economy and huge emissions of greenhouse gases and other toxic-to-life particulates (eg, from diesel) are now the motoring norm.
"Towing a luxury hotel suite on big wheels is now being promoted as a patriotic 'staycation' in Australia. I hate to have to point this out, but such carbon-based tourism in a severely carbon-constrained world is no longer ethically acceptable."
Glen said these big caravans were akin to "condominiums on wheels".
"People can't travel overseas, but they're wanting to have these staycations in Australia. And yet their carbon footprint is probably bigger now than it was by going overseas.
"Australia is now the caravan capital of the world. Our caravans are getting bigger and more luxurious with more bits and pieces on them. So are the vehicles that have to pull them. Newcastle would be one of the caravaning capitals of the world. Take a trip down the highway to Raymond Terrace. There's a couple of miles of caravan and camping shops all the way through."
In this context, he opposes calls for a tax deduction for campers to boost the tourism sector.
Glenn freely admits that his opinion on this topic will probably "stir up a hornet's nest". [Or a mountain katydid's nest?]
Topics reckons hell will freeze over before Aussies give up their caravans. We're hoping a breakthrough sparks an energy revolution.
