Strange power

The "Strange Power", was an event that occurred at about 19:48 GMT (confirmed by screenshots) on 23 January 2010. All across Gielinor, a strange power was felt by nearly all the players online at the time. The effects lasted for 13 seconds and featured a red shape and the levitation of players also ghost like people appeared behind them. When the levitation was over, players looked at their hands and legs. There was a sound very much like the audio of the Quest Cape emote. There have been arguments that this is the start of a new skill. However, this has not been confirmed yet. The effects of the Strange Power provoked several riots, on Worlds 48, and 66, among others. Many people were spamming about unrelated topics (i.e. Pay to Pk and Trade Limits).

Rumors
After the occurence, countless numbers of rumors began circulating around RuneScape.

Confirmed rumors:

 * Mods have confirmed that this was not a glitch or bug. (see picture in gallery)
 * Jagex Mods have confirmed that this was an "Experment".
 * If you talk to Peer the Seer, he says: "Uuuh... What was that dark presence I felt? ! Ahem, sorry about that."
 * A Seer in Seers' Village "Uh, what was that dark force? I've never sensed anything like it... Anyway, sorry about that."
 * The Sin Seer is now saying "My inner eye is clouded from a wave of darkness; give me a moment. What do you want?"
 * Witchaven Villagers have a chance of saying: "Free. She is free..." Or "The mother is free." Possibly referring to Mother Mallum. Since this quite a specific statement, it could be hinting at the release of another part of the Slug Quest storyline.
 * The Body rune doors, at Elemental Workshop ARE still closed. As usual.

Unconfirmed/false rumors:

 * There were rumors of the re-awakening of Guthix himself (It is confirmed that Juna says nothing of the sort) but this was proven to be a hoax.


 * Many believed that there was weird activity in Yanille, some claimed to have spotted black holes. There was no black hole at the Wizard's Guild, as was speculated by many players.


 * Ali the Wise says nothing about the recent Strange Power.


 * Sir Tiffy Cashien gives no more new information.


 * The Frozen Door in the God Wars has not changed.


 * The temple near the ice plateau is visited during the Temple at Senntisten.


 * The temple north of the ice path is visited during the Curse of Arrav.


 * Oxidised armor is made during Dealing with Scabaras.


 * The cave entrance near the Chaos Altar in western wilderness is from While Guthix Sleeps.


 * There are no new notes 'Hints'. These have been there since Notes came out and have nothing to do with the surge of power anyway.


 * The island near Karamja/south of Tutorial Island is visited during Rocking Out.
 * The player Averi Xoxo has been taken prisoner by Zaros.


 * There is a large ship at the end of the Wilderness, however it has been there for years.


 * The Cosmic altar in Zanaris now glows purple along with the usual gold. Other altars appear to be glowing brightly as well. This was updated after Nomad's Requiem.


 * Pictures of Jagex moderators in-game saying that the new skill would be released next month and the Zaros boss would be released on 24 January 2010. These pictures were edited, as Jagex also only updates on weekdays. 24 January 2010 is a Sunday.
 * There is a red star in the sky if you look through the observatory telescope. This is a false rumor.



Trivia

 * Shortly after it occurred, mass panic/excitment broke out among the forums. Speculation ranged from many various topics. Some considered it to being a possible being a hint for a new upcoming skill or quest. Others think that it is the return of Zaros or Lucien to Gielinor. Some players further speculate that it is a test of the Orb of Oculus. However, Free-to-play players also experienced it, so a new quest is unlikely, and for it to be tested for the Orb of Oculus, it would also be unlikely due to what really happened.
 * Some psychics appear to have been affected by this event, though oddly enough not the Oracle or Gypsy Aris. Those experiencing odd phenomenon include: the Seers of Seers' Village, the Sin Seer, and Peer the Seer.
 * This event corresponds with the release of Enakhra's Lament 4 years previous, though this could easily be a coincidence.
 * Both non-members and members experienced this, so many players believe it will be about an update that free-to-play players has access to as well as members.
 * This was confirmed to not be a glitch by Jagex moderators on the forums.
 * The power made players all face in a specific direction, depending on the location they were at in Runescape. Players at the Grand Exchange faced North East, towards the Chaos Temple in the wilderness, and players at Seers Village directly north, towards the Mahjarrat Ritual site. Players at Soul Wars and Yanille also faced North East. (Plausible connection to the Mahjarrat. However, this may yet be a coincidence. Other locations and directions appreciated to confirm or reject this theory.)
 * In the 14th letter to the Chaos Elemental, it was said that the planets are set to align. The Witchaven villagers now say that the stars will soon align.
 * If a player was moving or performing an action while this event occured, they would cancel the emote, but the red mist would still appear.