strange stuff

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

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Cops Locate Gas Station Shooter: a Dog

The pooch apparently bumped a loaded shotgun while inside a truck

(Newser) - A woman sitting in her car at a red light got shot in the arm, and police in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, quickly identified the shooter: a dog. Police say the dog was in the back seat of a vehicle parked at a gas station when its owner went inside, reports WJW...

Rome's 'Sexy Priest' Calendar Stars Few Actual Priests

La Repubblica points out that it's more like the 'fake priest' calendar

(Newser) - A calendar featuring close-ups of young, handsome men in priestly attire has been a perennial Rome souvenir for the last two decades—but few, it seems, are actually men of the cloth. Giovanni Galizia has been the cover shot for the so-called sexy priest calendar for many of the last...

Chilean Film Takes Home 'Palm Dog' Honor at Cannes

This year's quirky award for canines at famous film fest goes to Chile's La Perra

(Newser) - A round of a-paws for La Perra, winner of this year's Palm Dog Award at the Cannes Film Festival. The Chilean movie took the top canine prize on Friday, a day before the festival's official awards ceremony. The quirky tradition on the Cannes beachfront was a celebratory affair,...

Meet Donald Trump, the Buffalo
Meet
Donald Trump,
the Buffalo
May 22, 2026 2:09 PM CDT

Meet Donald Trump, the Buffalo

Albino buffalo with Trump-like hair draws crowds in Bangladesh, but he's about to be sacrificed

(Newser) - In a Bangladeshi village, a pale buffalo with a swoop of blondish hair has unexpectedly been saddled with a famous name: Donald Trump. Owner Zia Uddin Mridha says his younger brother dubbed the 4-year-old albino animal "Donald" after deciding its "extraordinary hair" resembled the US president's trademark...

Lettuce Introduce You to the Frog Found in a Salad Bag

Australian farmer discovers a stowaway in his lettuce, names him 'Greg'

(Newser) - When Australian farmer Rhys Smoker announced he'd found a live frog in a bag of lettuce, his housemates didn't believe him. Smoker had been preparing a steak and salad dinner on Saturday for the three people who share his house in Esperance in Western Australia state when he...

Nope, It Wasn't Me Who Stole Those Hot Dogs, No Sir!

Fox caught red-pawed after apparently swiping hot dogs from barbecue in Alberta, Canada

(Newser) - Canadian police have found themselves a barbecue bandit, though a decidedly nonhuman one. UPI reports that officers with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police came across the perp on Monday in Alberta's Crowsnest Pass. Their tongue-in-cheek description of the suspect: short, red-haired, and bundled in a thick coat. It was...

She's Lived in Gaudi's Casa Mila for Almost 4 Decades

Ana Viladomiu has rare lifetime lease in Barcelona landmark, with super-low rent

(Newser) - Tour groups regularly stream past her door, which means Ana Viladomiu can no longer put the trash out while still wearing her PJs. The Guardian profiles the 70-year-old writer, one of two final long-term residents of Antoni Gaudi's Casa Mila in Barcelona, Spain, a UNESCO-listed landmark also known as...

Owl Found in Concrete Mixer Is Finally Flying Free

Workers at Utah sanctuary had to install new feathers

(Newser) - An adolescent owl that was found stuck in a concrete mixer in southwestern Utah is finally flying free, the AP reports. After being released, the owl hovered for a moment while the aviary roof was retracted, gained speed, and then flew out into the wild. "It feels so, so...

Viral Nutria, 'Neuty,' Dies of Cancer
Viral Nutria, 'Neuty,'
Dies of Cancer
May 13, 2026 11:29 AM CDT

Viral Nutria, 'Neuty,' Dies of Cancer

Beloved Louisiana rodent inspired a legal battle and gained local celebrity status

(Newser) - The Louisiana rodent who sparked a showdown with the state—and then became a local celebrity—has died. Neuty the nutria, rescued as a days-old baby from a roadside in suburban New Orleans on Christmas Eve 2020, passed away in his sleep Saturday after a battle with cancer, his owners...

In Oregon, a Pencil Is Running for Governor

Write-in Pencil campaign highlights the state's abysmal reading scores

(Newser) - Oregon's quirkiest gubernatorial hopeful is a 6-foot pencil with a blunt message about the state's schools. "Pencil" is the alter ego of J. Schuberth, a former college professor and literacy advocate who's asking voters to bypass both parties and hand-write "Pencil" on their ballots to...

Professor Accused of Inventing Fake Nobel-Style Prize

French philology scholar allegedly fabricated award, society, and university

(Newser) - A French language scholar is accused of doing more than polishing his résumé—prosecutors say he invented the prize listed on it, the BBC reports. Florent Montaclair, a longtime academic in Besançon, is under investigation after allegedly creating a bogus "Gold Medal of Philology" and the...

Twins' Nagging Doubts on Paternity Lead to Shocking Find

Sisters in UK find out they have different dads, a rare case of heteropaternal superfecundation

(Newser) - Fraternal twins Michelle and Lavinia Osbourne always knew they had some differences—but they never imagined they didn't share a father. The British sisters, now 49, learned in 2022 through consumer DNA tests that they're the result of an extremely rare phenomenon called heteropaternal superfecundation , in which two...

Zoo Closed After Employee Allegedly Makes Grim Claim

Police search incinerator after worker allegedly admits burning missing wife

(Newser) - One of Japan's best-known zoos is dealing with "a crisis of unprecedented magnitude," says Asahikawa Mayor Hirosuke Imazu. The city's Asahiyama Zoo has postponed its planned reopening to at least Friday while police search its grounds—including an animal hospital incinerator—after a male employee allegedly...

This Lobster Can't Decide Which Color It Wants to Be

Rare two-colored critter caught in Massachusetts is going to be spared the pot, go to an aquarium

(Newser) - It might be a divided lobster, but it has united New Englanders in fascination. A Cape Cod seafood company has donated a rare two-colored lobster to a science center, sparing the critter from the kettle because of its remarkable coloration. The lobster found is the typical brown color on one...

Prego Pasta Jar Lid Records Your Family Convos at Dinner

Limited-edition Connection Keeper captures mealtime chats without internet connectivity

(Newser) - Prego wants to spice up dinner conversation with more than tomato and basil. The pasta sauce brand owned by the Campbell's Company has built a gadget called the Connection Keeper , a hockey puck-size recording device meant to sit in the middle of the table and capture whatever your family...

A Police Camera Monitoring a Nest Spotted a Crime

Suspect sought after protected Canada goose nest disturbed in Illinois

(Newser) - Illinois police set up a camera to keep an eye on a nest of Canada goose eggs—and say they ended up catching a potential crime. "Two hours later, I get footage of a woman taking the eggs instead of the adult geese coming back," Niles Police Animal...

Road Trip Break Turns Into 3-Hour Outhouse Ordeal

Woman was stuck up to her waist in collapsed pit toilet (i.e., in poop) in Australia's Northern Territory

(Newser) - A roadside bathroom break in Australia turned into a three-hour ordeal for one woman who ended up stuck up to her waist in a collapsed pit toilet. Authorities in the Northern Territory say the individual, traveling with her husband and two children to Canberra after visiting family in Darwin, stopped...

'Official Pro-Life Spider-Man' Hears Fate for Climbing Sphere

Maison Des Champs, 26, gets 45 days in prison for scaling 366-foot-tall Vegas structure

(Newser) - The anti-abortion man who scaled Vegas' Sphere in 2024 is headed to prison. Fox News reports that 26-year-old Maison Des Champs will see 45 days behind bars as part of his suspended sentence for ascending the 366-foot-tall structure to, as he claims, raise money for who he said was a...

Small Town in Brouhaha Over Video of Pantsless Mayor

Mooresville cites security risks in appealing judge's order to release surveillance footage at Town Hall

(Newser) - Mooresville isn't ready to let the cameras roll, at least not publicly. The North Carolina town on Wednesday appealed a judge's order requiring it to release overnight Town Hall surveillance footage showing a pantsless Mayor Chris Carney and a woman inside the building on Oct. 10, 2024. The...

Do You Sit in Your Car, Like, a Lot?
Do You Sit in Your Car,
Like, a Lot?
Apr 19, 2026 12:28 PM CDT

Do You Sit in Your Car, Like, a Lot?

You're not the only one hanging out inside vehicles for some decompression time

(Newser) - Have you ever pulled into the driveway of your home or a parking lot spot and just ... stayed there? Maybe it's a few minutes, or half an hour. You might be scrolling on your phone, belting out a favorite song, or just staring into the distance. Scroll through TikTok...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser