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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Uncovered: Historic Video of Parachuting Beavers

Yes, really

(Newser) - More than half a century after a group of beavers parachuted into the Idaho backcountry, officials have uncovered footage of the quirky wildlife management moment. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game was struggling with an overpopulation of beavers in some regions in the 1940s when wildlife managers settled on...

Home Finally Sells, Despite Booby Trap Warning

Officials had some trouble offloading Ed and Elaine Brown's compound

(Newser) - Two New Hampshire properties finally sold at auction Thursday, despite the fact that they may be booby-trapped. The Christian Science Monitor has the backstory: A 6,000-square-foot house on a 100-acre property, plus a nearby dental office, were owned by Ed and Elaine Brown, who were convicted of tax evasion...

Driver's Alleged Crime: Drinking Coffee

Minnesota woman was left 'dumbfounded'

(Newser) - There's a good chance you broke the law on your way to work today—at least in the eyes of Minnesota police. The offense: drinking coffee while driving. Lindsey Krieger tells KMSP she was "dumbfounded" when an officer told her she'd been pulled over for the apparent...

O'Hare Gets Pet Potty Zone, With Fake Fire Hydrants

Insert 'gone to the dogs' joke here

(Newser) - Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has opened an indoor space, complete with artificial grass and miniature fire hydrants, for pets and service animals to do their business. In particular, the addition will make it easier for travelers with disabilities who will no longer have to go back out through...

Wild Passenger Fatally Swallowed $63K of Cocaine

One of 80 pellets burst in John Kennedy Santos Gurjao's stomach

(Newser) - Authorities now know how a passenger died during this weekend's eventful Aer Lingus flight from Lisbon to Dublin. A postmortem has determined that Brazilian John Kennedy Santos Gurjao, 24, was carrying almost 2 pounds of suspected cocaine—worth about $63,500–in 80 pellets in his stomach. Then one...

Hunters Kill 2 Moose ... Behind a Fence, in a Zoo

They didn't realize their mistake until it was too late

(Newser) - Hunters in Norway bagged two moose, somehow without realizing they were shooting at the animals through a fence. And not just any fence, but the fence of the Polar Park zoo, The Local reports. As the hunters explained to the zoo, their hounds somehow got inside the animals' enclosure and...

Passenger Bites Man, Dies Before Landing

Man 'ran amok' on flight to Ireland

(Newser) - Authorities are hoping a postmortem on a dead passenger will explain the madness that unfolded on a flight from Lisbon to Dublin on Sunday night. According to the Irish Mirror , the man went berserk on Aer Lingus Flight 485 and bit another passenger before crew members were able to restrain...

Simpsons Joke Inspires Man's Drive to Rename Aussie Money

'Millions of people around the world' will want some of this funny money: petitioner

(Newser) - Malcolm Turnbull has been Australia's prime minister for just over a month, but he's already got a tall order before him. "If the leaders of this great nation have any common sense at all, they will introduce legislation to parliament to change the name of our currency...

24/7 Church Vigil Comes to Forced End, 11 Years Later

Archdiocese closed the church in 2004

(Newser) - Parishioners of a long-closed Catholic church south of Boston have lost their appeal of a ruling ordering them to end their 11-year, 24/7 vigil inside the building. The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed a judge's ruling Wednesday that parishioners at St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Scituate are trespassing on...

Woman's Halloween Decor Gets Cops Called to House

3 days in a row

(Newser) - A dummy placed face down in a Detroit woman's front yard as a Halloween prank has prompted repeated visits by police. Larethia Haddon says police showed up Tuesday, the first day she put the dummy out. Officer Jennifer Moreno tells the Detroit News that officers arrived again Wednesday and...

Missing King Cobra Found Under Neighbor's Dryer

10-foot snake is back with his owners

(Newser) - Elvis is back in the building. Elvis, in this case, being the missing king cobra snake that was returned to its owner's home near Orlando after being on the loose for more than a month. A woman who lives about a half-mile from owner (and Discovery Channel reality star...

Girl Has Sneezed 20 Times a Minute for Last Month

Doctors say the condition might be stress-related

(Newser) - A girl in Angleton, Texas, started sneezing in spurts about a month ago. "I thought it was like, oh, I'm just allergic to something," 12-year-old Katelyn Thornley tells Fox 26 . But now she can't stop—to the tune of 20 times a minute, or thousands of...

There Are Actually 1,200 People Running for President

Tom Brady Sketch and Mickey Mouse among them

(Newser) - Deez Nuts may be the most notorious of this year's alternative presidential candidates, but he's not the only one. In fact, there are more than 1,200 "solitary fringe presidential aspirants," as Kevin Hogan calls them in the Atlantic , even though most of them will...

Angry Mob Rips Shirts Off Air France Execs

Had to scale fence to escape protesters

(Newser) - Air France executives had their shirts ripped off and had to scale an eight-foot fence to escape an angry mob that stormed a meeting at company headquarters. The airline said that 2,900 jobs would likely be cut as part of a savings plan announced Monday, and workers stormed the...

SF's Pee-Repelling Walls Are Really Making a Splash

So much so that the city will cover more walls in Ultra-Ever Dry paint

(Newser) - San Francisco's experiment with pee-repelling paint is working out so well that the city says it will expand the trial in an attempt to prevent further public urination. Since treating nine of its walls with a liquid-repelling coating that causes urine to bounce back at anyone seeking relief, the...

Florida Senate Candidate: I Killed Goat, Drank Its Blood

Some Libertarians are none too pleased with Augustus Sol Invictus

(Newser) - Two years ago, Augustus Sol Invictus walked from central Florida to the Mojave Desert and spent a week fasting and praying, at times thinking he wouldn't survive. In a pagan ritual to give thanks when he returned home, he killed a goat and drank its blood. Now that he'...

Santa Claus Is Running for North Pole City Council

A vote against him gets you on the naughty list

(Newser) - Apparently tired of working just one night a year, Santa Claus is running for North Pole city council. OK, so it's just a man whose legal name is Santa Claus living in the tiny Alaska town of North Pole and not the actual Father Christmas. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ...

TSA Doesn't Think TNT Wedding Gifts Are Cute

Wedding favors cause 20-minute bomb scare at airport

(Newser) - A bride and groom whose names both start with a "T" gave away TNT-themed favors at their wedding earlier this month. It's kind of a cute gag, unless you're the TSA agents checking bags in a screening room at the Denver International Airport. An agent watching an...

Crazy Sight: Mountain Lion Atop Utility Pole

Photographer captures image in California

(Newser) - One of the more unusual sights of the week comes via the Victorville Daily Press in California, which captured an image of a mountain lion on top of a power pole. The big cat apparently scrambled up the 35-foot pole in the Lucerne Valley on Tuesday when kids traveling home...

Teen Who Vanished Years Ago Found in Chimney

He may have tried to shimmy down, got stuck

(Newser) - The remains of 18-year-old man reported missing seven years ago were found in the chimney of an abandoned cabin less than a mile from his home, and the details of his death are likely to stay mysterious, Colorado officials said Wednesday. The remains were found last month as contractors tore...

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