strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

Stories 421 - 440 | << Prev   Next >>

Woman Declared Dead Decades Ago Suddenly Turns Up

Patricia Kopta, who vanished from Pennsylvania in 1992, found in Puerto Rico nursing home at age 83

(Newser) - A Pennsylvania woman who went missing more than 30 years ago in a case that stumped authorities who later declared her legally dead has been found living in a nursing home in Puerto Rico. Patricia Kopta left behind a husband and siblings and meandered through northern Puerto Rico for a...

Sweet Potato Leads to Arrest in Massachusetts Cold Case

Officials were able to match DNA from the root vegetable left at the scene with suspect

(Newser) - After Todd Lampley was shot in the bedroom of a Massachusetts home on February 27, 2011, police recovered evidence outside the bedroom window: shell casings, a cellphone, and a sweet potato. Twelve years later, there's finally an arrest in the case, and authorities say DNA left on that sweet...

Cops Make Unusual Find in Ex-Food Delivery Man's Bag

Man in Peru called 'Juanita' his 'spiritual girlfriend'; police say it was an ancient mummy

(Newser) - Peruvian police have arrested a 26-year-old man allegedly found carrying an ancient mummy—whom he reportedly described as his "spiritual girlfriend"— in his food delivery bag. Police said three men were acting drunk at a park, also described as an archaeological site, in the southern region of Puno,...

Guy Scores a Disneyland Record 8 Years in the Making

Even little kids might get sick of happiest place on Earth after 2,995 days in a row

(Newser) - You know how sometimes some guy wins the Super Bowl and screams, "I'm going to Disneyland!" Well, sometimes some guy finds himself out of a job and with some time and an annual pass to Disneyland on his hands, so he just starts going. Every day. It...

Mexico's President Shares a 'Mystical' Photo

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador didn't appear to be joking about elf-like creature spotted in a tree

(Newser) - Mexico's president posted a photo on his social media accounts Saturday showing what he said appeared to be a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador didn't seem to be joking when he posted the photo of an "aluxe," a mischievous...

Spain Ordered New Trains, Forgot to Measure
Spain Ordered New Trains,
Forgot One Important Thing
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 25, 2023 4:05 PM CST

Spain Ordered New Trains, Forgot One Important Thing

They're too wide to fit in the nation's old tunnels

(Newser) - Two top transportation officials in Spain are out of a job over a hard-to-fathom gaffe: They ordered the construction of new trains too wide to fit in the nation's old railway tunnels. Isaias Taboas, head of rail operator Renfe, and Isabel Pardo de Vera, secretary of state for transport,...

'Evil Elmo' Has Become 'Creepy Monster,' Cops Warn

'Do not engage' with man wearing Cookie Monster costume in Santa Cruz, they say

(Newser) - "Do not engage" with Cookie Monster. That's the message from police in Santa Cruz, California, where a street performer wearing a costume of the Sesame Street character has been harassing people. "It's the creepy monster, not the Cookie Monster," a visitor to the Santa Cruz...

Critic&#39;s Review Ends With Dog Poop Smeared on Her Face
He Smeared Dog Poop on
a Critic's Face, Is Out a Job
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Feb 25, 2023 6:00 AM CST

He Smeared Dog Poop on a Critic's Face, Is Out a Job

Ballet director had extreme reaction after review says audience will be 'killed by boredom'

(Newser) - A German ballet director has lost his job after doing what he terms "truly an awful thing": smearing his dog's feces on the face of a dance critic. Marco Goecke, 50, on Thursday lost his job with the Hanover State Opera, though the opera house will continue to...

Art Fair Visitor Breaks $42K Jeff Koons Sculpture

Woman tapped on the glass balloon dog, and it fell off pedestal

(Newser) - A visitor to an art show in Miami has learned an important lesson about Jeff Koons' famous balloon-dog pieces: They're not real balloons. In fact, they're made of glass and thus fragile. As the Miami Herald reports, a woman tapped on a shiny blue dog atop a pedestal...

He Meant to Go to SYD, Booked Ticket to SDY

Kingsley Burnett intended to go to Australia, wound up in Montana

(Newser) - JFK. LAX. Some airport codes are burned into our collective memory. The airport code for Sydney, Australia, not so much. That turned out to be highly problematic for one New York man, who booked a flight to that city Down Under and planned to depart on a cruise from it....

These Robbers Are Both Under 40
These Robbers
Are Both Under 40
Feb 17, 2023 2:40 PM CST

These Robbers Are Both Under 40

Police say London brothers wore 'extremely lifelike' old men masks during crime

(Newser) - Two brothers who robbed a jewelry store in England were arrested after police spotted the faces of the suspects—in the trunk of their car. George Murphy-Bristow, 38, and Benjamin Murphy, 37, wore masks that made them look like old men when they robbed the store in Epping, Essex, in...

Dog Lived With Coyotes. Now He Sleeps in a 'Fluffy Bed'

But the custody dispute over Hades, aka Ghost, may not be over

(Newser) - The dog is a friendly bull terrier mix who became famous in the Las Vegas area for roaming with coyotes. Now he's at the center of a strange custody dispute between the women who rescued him from the wild—they know him as Ghost—and the family who says...

McDonald’s 'McCrispy' Ad Lands in Unfortunate Location

Anywhere near a crematorium is probably not a brilliant idea, guys

(Newser) - When placing advertisements near funeral homes, mortuaries, zombie meeting halls, or anything to do with the dead or undead, really, one might want to give the message that one is aware of those surroundings. That apparently failed to happen when McDonald's wanted to tout its new McCrispy chicken sandwich...

'Worst Valentine's Day Surprise Ever'

Trade analysis finds that women's underwear is taxed higher than men's

(Newser) - Typically, an economic analysis that highlights a "trade fact of the week" might not sound like the sexiest of subjects. But in this case, the factoid highlighted by Ed Gresser of the Progressive Policy Institute amounts to what he labels the "worst Valentine's Day surprise ever."...

OSHA Issues Fine Over Workers Falling Into Chocolate

Mars Wrigley receives citation categorized as serious

(Newser) - The Mars Wrigley Confectionary in Pennsylvania has been fined over an accident in which two workers fell into a tank of chocolate. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued a serious citation and a penalty of more than $14,000, KHTM reports. The company didn't ensure that the two...

Zoo Figures Out How Gibbon Who Lived Alone Gave Birth

Japanese zookeepers suspect Momo the gibbon mated through a tiny hole

(Newser) - It was a head-scratching birth. Momo, a 12-year-old white-handed gibbon, lived alone in a cage at a Japanese zoo—and delivered a shock when she delivered a baby in February 2021. As Vice reports, zookeepers at the Kujukushima Zoo and Botanical Garden in Nagasaki couldn't figure out how Momo...

Airbnb Oddity: 700 Pounds of Acorns Stashed in Wall

A couple of very industrious critters caused a little trouble at a California rental

(Newser) - Sometimes when you walk into an Airbnb, you don't want to know what its previous occupants have been up to. And sometimes once you know, there's no unknowing. In the case of a two-story house in Glen Ellen, California, the previous occupants had been very busy, but in...

AI-Generated Seinfeld Parody Is Halted Over Trans Jokes

'Nothing, Forever' is suspended on Twitch, as creators blamed a content-filter glitch

(Newser) - A parody of Seinfeld generated by artificial intelligence and intended to run endlessly on a Twitch stream has been stopped in its tracks because of transphobic lines. On Monday, the Jerry-like animated character in Nothing, Forever likened being trans to having a mental illness, among other lines, and Twitch pulled...

Funeral Home Staff Unzipped a Body Bag, Got Quite a Shock

Woman who'd been declared dead at Iowa continuing care facility was actually still alive

(Newser) - At least four people who were sure a woman with early-onset dementia at a continuing care home in Iowa had passed away didn't get it right, and the facility is now facing a hefty fine. ABC News reports on the incident out of Urbandale, where the 66-year-old in hospice...

Woman's Close Encounter With Boulder Has Hearts Pounding

Giant rock came crashing through her Oahu home, narrowly missing her

(Newser) - A woman on the Hawaiian island of Oahu got a most terrifying welcome to her new home. Caroline Sasaki was walking into the living room over the weekend when a huge crash shocked her and her family members: A 5-by-5-foot boulder had barreled down a hill and right through the...

Stories 421 - 440 | << Prev   Next >>