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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Tourist Claims She Has Photo of Alcatraz Ghost

Her partner thinks it's a woman from 1930s or '40s

(Newser) - We're going to preface this one with a recommendation you ingest a grain of salt before reading on—but it's an intriguing story all the same. A British tourist claims she captured an image of a ghost at Alcatraz during an April visit to the former prison. Sheila...

Cops: Bus Driver Lied About Bible Stopping Bullets

Investigators say Ohio man staged gang attack

(Newser) - Ohio bus driver Rickey Wagoner wasn't really saved by his Bible in a supposed Feb. 24 gang attack, police say—but he probably does need some kind of help. Investigators now believe the Dayton driver staged the attack by stabbing himself, shooting himself in the arm, and firing two...

Woman Killed by Sneeze, Says Sister

It led to the crash that killed Edna Hickson, she claims

(Newser) - A 79-year-old woman died Sunday, and her sister says a sneeze was to blame. Australian police say Edna Hickson's Hyundai Elantra rolled a number of times as she rounded a bend, causing internal injuries that ultimately killed her. But sister Betty Sheelah says Hickson, who was driving to Sheelah'...

Boy Finds Mummified Corpse in Abandoned House

Homeowner's body was hanging in closet

(Newser) - Plenty of kids poke around abandoned houses, but there's a 12-year-old boy in Dayton, Ohio, who probably won't be doing so again: The boy on Sunday opened the door of a closet in a house that neighbors thought was unoccupied and found a mummified corpse hanging inside, reports...

Man Runs 7.5-Mile Race... While Having a Heart Attack

But Wolfgang Zech is determined to run at least 24 more

(Newser) - Just 100 yards into Wolfgang Zech's 44th consecutive Dipsea Race—a challenging 7.5-miler that involves lots of steep terrain and three 50-story flights of stairs in California's Marin County—the 72-year-old just did not feel right. "My chest was really, really aching and I basically couldn’...

Firm Pays Out $61K in Bonuses ... in $2 Bills

It's a way to show support for community, says boss

(Newser) - A Nebraska bullet-manufacturing company likes to make its bonuses memorable. A few years ago, a portion was distributed in $1 coins, but they were a bit heavy to haul around—so this year, Hornady Manufacturing opted for $2 bills. Bosses handed out $61,000 worth of the rare bills, an...

To Save Voice, Patient Sings During Throat Surgery

Tumor extraction could have destroyed Alama Kante's vocal cords

(Newser) - When Alama Kante had surgery to remove a parathyroid tumor from her throat, one tiny slip of the scalpel could have caused her to lose her singing voice—and she's a professional singer . So, in an unprecedented move, she sang throughout the surgery at France's Henri Mondor hospital...

Grandma's Body Accidentally Sent to Be Dissected

But medical examiner's office insists body was never dissected

(Newser) - Bronx morgue workers allegedly sent the corpse of an 85-year-old woman to be dissected at Albert Einstein College—despite the fact that her body was never supposed to be used as a teaching aide. Now, the family of Aura Ballesteros, who died May 16, plans to sue the city, the...

Gun Tattoo Guy Busted With Real Thing

Michael Smith went to deputy's house with Glock in waistband

(Newser) - Guns in waistbands appear to be a recurring theme in the life of Michael Smith of Maine. Just a few months after the realistic tattoo of a holstered gun on his waist caused state troopers to descend upon his house , the 41-year-old has been arrested with a real gun tucked...

Woman's Ovary Removal Becomes Surprise C-Section

She leaves hospital with baby, hadn't known she was pregnant

(Newser) - Rebecca Oldham found herself suffering painful cramps, and after multiple tests, New Zealand doctors decided to remove her ovaries in November, believing them to be the cause of the problem. But then they woke the 25-year-old up to deliver some very surprising news: Instead of removing her ovaries, they were...

Dolphin's Love for Human Ended in Suicide

Interspecies sex tale first appeared in Hustler

(Newser) - Margaret Howe Lovatt's relationship with a dolphin in the 1960s became fodder for Hustler in the '70s—and ended in tragedy. Lovatt was working with scientist John Lilly, on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, to better understand dolphins, and she hoped to teach one of them to...

Man Sues Hospital for Shortening Penis

Canadian says his wife left him

(Newser) - Next time someone complains about all the weird lawsuits in the US, point to Canada: A man has sued a hospital there because he says it shortened his penis, reports AFP . This does not get any less strange in the telling: The unidentified Montreal resident says he injured his penis...

Brain Tumor Found, Thanks to Pistol-Whipping

Hospital discovered it after store robbery

(Newser) - If there's an upside to getting bashed in the head by a pistol during a robbery, this would be it: When convenience store manager Jeremiah Willey went to the hospital afterward, a CT scan turned up a large brain tumor, reports KTVK in Phoenix. "They said that had...

Baltimore Cops Shoot Runaway Steer
Baltimore Cops Shoot
Runaway Steer
Jun 13, 2014 6:17 PM CDT

Baltimore Cops Shoot Runaway Steer

780-pound animal escaped a slaughterhouse, briefly

(Newser) - A big steer escaped from a slaughterhouse in Baltimore this morning, but his final taste of freedom didn't last too long, reports the Baltimore Sun . Police shot and killed the 780-pound animal after getting calls from city dwellers surprised to see it trotting around their streets, reports the AP...

Man Killed Hours After Jury Accidentally Frees Him

Jurors sign the wrong form, a fatal mistake for Fresno resident

(Newser) - Bobby Lee Pearson got what was probably the luckiest break of his life on Wednesday when a jury mistakenly set him free after a burglary trial. It soon turned into the unluckiest break of his life: An hour into his accidental freedom, he got fatally attacked, reports ABC30 in Fresno....

Company Tried to Force Employees Into 'Onionhead' Religion: Suit

Employees allegedly fired for refusing to participate

(Newser) - What would you do if your employer told you to thank God for your job, say “I love you” to management, and attend meetings to discuss "divine plans"? If you work for New York health care firm United Health Programs of America, you go to the US...

Woman Has 27-Pound Tumor Removed
Woman Has 27-Pound
Tumor Removed
Jun 11, 2014 6:27 PM CDT

Woman Has 27-Pound Tumor Removed

Atlanta grandmother now doing fine

(Newser) - The cause of an Atlanta woman's inexplicable weight gain has been identified and removed: a 27-pound tumor about the size of a beach ball in her belly, reports 11Alive . Doctors removed the cystic tumor this week from 59-year-old Doris Lewis in a delicate operation that lasted more than eight...

Giant Moths Descend on Malaysia

Though alarming, moth swarms not dangerous

(Newser) - To some they represent the souls of dead relatives, to others they are beautiful pollinators, but to many they are just plain creepy. What are they? Giant Lyssa Zampa moths, swarms of which have descended on Malaysian homes and even a football match, the BBC reports. “The moths are...

Man Tries to Shoot Moon With Handgun

Cameron Frank Read had apparently been talking about Halley's Comet

(Newser) - George Bailey tried to lasso the moon, but an Arizona man apparently wanted to shoot it. Cameron Frank Read, 39, allegedly fired several rounds through the window of a residence after talking about seeing Halley’s Comet on Friday, according to his girlfriend and her teen son, reports KTVK . They...

Planned Threesome in Parked Car Ends in Crash

...and an investigation

(Newser) - A threesome in a parked car—what could go wrong? A 32-year-old in Wenzhou, China, apparently learned the answer to that question the hard way last Thursday, Shanghaiist reports by way of local media. Chung Yeh and two twenty-something women stripped down in his car and started getting busy, so...

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