strange stuff

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

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Kids' Cat-Hunting Contest Called Off

New Zealand event canceled after outcry

(Newser) - A feral cat-hunting competition for children has been canceled after it was not received as well as organizers might have hoped. As the BBC explains, in New Zealand, feral cats "are considered a pest and a risk to the country's biosecurity," and an annual hunt is held...

5 of 8 Toilets Broke on Long-Haul Flight

Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to New York had to turn back 2 hours in

(Newser) - If being stuck in a tiny box with 300 strangers at 35,000 feet isn't your cup of tea, being stuck with 300 strangers at 35,000 feet with only three functioning bathrooms is probably less so. As AFP reports, such was the case of an Austrian Airlines flight...

This Is How We Know Bears Don't Like Diet Soda

At least this black bear in BC, who downed 69 cans of regular from woman's car but not the diet version

(Newser) - Diet soda isn't for everyone, and now we can add bears to that list—or at least this particular one in Canada, who broke into a resident's vehicle and quaffed 69 cans of regular pop before calling it a night. Per the CBC , Sharon Rosel of Earls Cove,...

Boy Banned From Amusement Park, the Hard Way

NC amusement park has to rescue 13-year-old stuck in claw machine

(Newser) - The 13-year-old boy had his eyes on the prize, but the problem that amusement park officials had was that he had his body inside the claw machine in his attempt to swipe it. Officials at Carowinds park in North Carolina found the unnamed teenager trapped in a claw machine, which...

Police Photo Is a Reminder to Read Signs

Mind the tides in Massachusetts

(Newser) - Some "no parking" signs are more important than others, particularly those near large bodies of water. Police in Duxbury, Massachusetts, posted a photo of a car partially submerged on a local beach after the tide rolled in, reports NECN . The police photographer framed the image to include the pair...

No, That's Not a Portal to Another Universe Over Alaska

Sky spiral was a result of sunlight reflecting off excess fuel from SpaceX rocket, says expert

(Newser) - Northern light enthusiasts got a surprise mixed in with the green bands of light dancing in the Alaska skies: A light baby blue spiral resembling a galaxy appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes. The cause early Saturday was a little more mundane than an alien invasion or the...

Family: Man Drained Account, Tossed $100 Bills From Car

Colin Davis McCarthy made it rain in Eugene, Oregon, on Tuesday night

(Newser) - Interstate 5 in Eugene was apparently the place to be around 7:30pm Tuesday. Oregon State Police said a 38-year-old man threw fistfuls of $100 bills from his car window, causing other drivers to stop their vehicles to collect the cash. Colin Davis McCarthy reportedly told police—who were concerned...

Fed Up by Pothole, Schwarzenegger Fills It Himself

The Governator takes matters in his neighborhood into his own hands

(Newser) - Fed up by an enormous pothole in his Los Angeles neighborhood, Arnold Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. The actor and former California governor tweeted a video Tuesday of him and a helper using packaged concrete to repair the road in the Brentwood area. "Today, after...

For These Firefighters, It's Squirrel Deja Vu

Critter is freed from manhole cover in Dortmund, Germany, which has experience in this matter

(Newser) - Firefighters say they have freed an “uncooperative” squirrel that was stuck in a manhole cover in western Germany—echoing a similar incident that happened in the same city four years ago. The Dortmund fire department said it was alerted to a distressed red squirrel by a pedestrian Monday afternoon,...

Traffic in Palm Beach on Friday Was a Bit Weird

Police: Woman drove Rolls-Royce through a yard, onto beach

(Newser) - A Florida resident's evening drive last week in her Rolls-Royce didn't end well. Palm Beach police say a 66-year-old woman hurtled through someone's backyard in her luxury car on Friday, then crashed through a seawall before ultimately coming to a halt with its nose in the sand...

Maine Sets World Record for Biggest Ice Carousel

Giant ice disk cut from frozen lake has diameter of 1,776 feet

(Newser) - Volunteers cut a big ol' circle in a frozen lake and set it in motion, claiming a world record in a category that few people know exists: The biggest ice carousel. With a diameter of 1,776 feet—or 541 meters—the giant piece of ice estimated at 146,000...

Now a Vending Machine Thing: Bear Meat

Japan does it again

(Newser) - Japan, the country that brought you whale meat in a vending machine , has a popular new flavor of vending machine meat, and there's a certain four-legged segment of the wild population that's not going to be happy to hear it: bears. That's right, for the bargain price...

'AK-47' That Prompted Panic Was Something Very Different

Police in New South Wales, Australia, say 'weapon' they found in car was actually just a bong

(Newser) - There was a bit of panic in Australia this week, after Sydney locals reported the sighting of a man carrying a frightening-looking assault rifle—but all was not what it seemed. The BBC reports that 911 calls started pouring in late Wednesday afternoon from the northwest side of the city,...

In the World of Shark Research, a Big Retraction

Scientists retract paper claiming mysterious creature was sighted in Mediterranean

(Newser) - As far as retractions go, it's an unusual one: A group of scientists have yanked their May 2022 paper claiming a goblin shark had been sighted for the first time in the Mediterranean as well as their defense, published March 13, 2023, of their study. The March 20 move...

It's a 'Mammoth Meatball' —in Size and Species

Scientists unveil cultivated meat made with mammoth DNA, but won't eat it

(Newser) - When a single meatball gets its own museum exhibit, you know it's something special. In this case, it's a mammoth meatball—or rather "an approximation of mammoth meat," as CNN reports. The sample wasn't taken from woolly mammoth remains discovered in Arctic permafrost. Instead, the...

Dutch Train Passengers May Be Cursing Badgers

Burrowing animals cause serious delays in railway travel

(Newser) - Badgers burrowing under rail tracks have halted trains in the northern and southern Netherlands, forcing lengthy cancellations on at least two lines. All trains were halted Tuesday afternoon on a busy line between the southern cities of Den Bosch and Boxtel after the animals dug into a dike carrying rails....

911 Call Was for Unresponsive Man. Cops Found a Lot More

Police find dead body, but also 200 snakes, a crocodile, and a toddler in Pennsylvania home

(Newser) - Police in Pennsylvania's Beaver County made quite a find this week while responding to a call about an unconscious man. The Beaver County Times reports that when officers arrived at the rental residence in Aliquippa, they didn't find an unconscious man, but a dead one—a 23-year-old whose...

South Carolina's Chief Accountant Made Quite the Blunder

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom is stepping down from post after $3.5B snafu

(Newser) - South Carolina's embattled top accountant will step down next month after a $3.5 billion error in the year-end financial report he oversaw, according to a resignation letter written Thursday that was obtained by the AP . Republican Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom's decision to leave the post he's...

New Zealand Invests $4M to Help Brokenhearted Teens

The country's 'Love Better' campaign wants young people to 'own the feels'

(Newser) - New Zealand's "Love Better" campaign is ready to help teenagers struggling with a breakup move on in a healthy way, and it's spending $4 million ($6.4 million in NZ currency) to do it. Via its affiliate RNZ, CNN reports that this is a youth-led campaign....

Family's Carbon Monoxide Leak Has Unexpected Cause

Their chimney was blocked by ... an owl

(Newser) - An Ohio family evacuated from their home due to high levels of carbon monoxide probably never would have guessed the cause: an owl had gotten stuck in their chimney, blocking it. One of the Hamilton County Dog Wardens came to rescue the owl after it was discovered; it was evaluated...

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