Hi Joe,

So I figure something bizarre was going on like invizzzible characters.

Very likely!

Ones that only some secret part of the computer can see.

Might have been fields (which can be shown with Alt+F9) or hidden text
(usually shows when you hit the ¶ button on the formatting toolbar).

You can also use "Tools Options View" to toggle the display of field
codes, hidden text, and other stuff.
Wildcard searches are more prone to be duped by the invisible stuff than
regular searches.

Regards,
Klaus