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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'Very Mean Squirrel' Is on the Warpath

At least 2 people in San Rafael, Calif., have ended up in ER after creature 'comes out of nowhere'

(Newser) - Residents of a San Francisco Bay Area city are on the lookout for an aggressive squirrel that has sent at least two people to the emergency room for medical treatment, per the AP . Joan Heblack tells ABC affiliate KGO-TV that she was walking in the Lucas Valley neighborhood of San...

Cops: Teaching Assistant Used 'Poop Spray' to Sicken Kids

South Carolina man arrested after incident allegedly caused $55K in damages

(Newser) - A South Carolina teaching assistant has been arrested after allegedly spraying a product designed to mimic the scent of feces throughout his high school. The incident, still under investigation, disrupted classes, sickened students, and led to tens of thousands of dollars in repairs, per WJW . Alexander Lewis, 32, was...

CBP Looked for Plants and Cigars, Found a Skull Instead

Human remains found during routine luggage check at Tampa airport, passenger claims ritual use

(Newser) - Customs officials at Tampa International Airport made a gruesome find in a traveler's bag this week. During what started as a standard baggage inspection, agents uncovered a foil-wrapped bundle containing human bones, including part of a skull. The passenger, whose identity and nationality weren't disclosed, reportedly told...

Amid ... Everything Else, Fat Bear Week Soldiers On

Annual Alaskan contest kicks off next week, but first: a 'chubby cubby appetizer'

(Newser) - The brawny bruins on the Alaska Peninsula are ready to brawl it out to see which will win this year's fattest bear title in the wildly popular annual Fat Bear Week contest. The main event featuring adult bears starts next week, but first up Thursday is what the National...

Cheaters Even Show Up in Rock-Skipping Contests

At least per organizers of an event in remote Scotland, with accusations of doctored stones

(Newser) - A decades-old stone-skipping contest on a tiny Scottish island made waves this year—not for record throws, but for a cheating scandal. The rules of the Easdale island contest are simple: A competitor can use only naturally formed stones from Easdale itself, and nothing wider than 3 inches, verified...

Ed Sheeran: My Wife Will Put Together Posthumous Album

Singer says his will provides for an album after he dies, with his spouse dictating what goes on it

(Newser) - Ed Sheeran is only 34 years old, but he's already making plans for the Great Stage in the Sky. The UK singer-songwriter has an album in his sights—with the "eerie" reveal that it will be a posthumous one, featuring 10 of his life's best tracks, reports...

4 Years Later, Mystery Wedding Crasher Is IDed
4 Years Later, Mystery
Wedding Crasher Is IDed
in case you missed it
Sep 14, 2025 11:00 AM CDT

4 Years Later, Mystery Wedding Crasher Is IDed

Andrew Hillhouse confesses to being stranger who popped up in Michelle Wylie's 2021 nuptials pic

(Newser) - For four years, Michelle Wylie and her husband have puzzled over a handful of photos from their wedding day that showed a "tall man in a dark suit, distinguished by the look of quiet mortification on his face" at their ceremony. It wasn't anyone they recognized, and no...

New Jersey Cops Seek Humpty Dumpty Bandits

Statue of nursery rhyme character was stolen from Cape May mini golf venue, dumped in street

(Newser) - Humpty Dumpty took a big fall, and now police are hoping to crack the case. A colorful statue of the nursery rhyme icon was forcibly removed from a structure at a miniature golf course in Cape May, New Jersey, on Sunday and dumped down the street. Local police now say...

Calif. Woman Charged After Registering Her Dog to Vote

Dog's ballot counted in 2021 recall, woman faces felony charges

(Newser) - A California woman is in hot water after prosecutors say she registered her dog to vote and managed to successfully cast a ballot under the pet's name in a state recall election. The Orange County District Attorney's Office announced that Laura Lee Yourex, 62, faces five felony...

The Prankster Ringing Doorbells Wasn't Human

Bavarian cops find a slug was making apartment complex doorbells go off, not kids

(Newser) - A doorbell "prankster" terrorizing an apartment complex in Bavaria has been nabbed—but it's not who anyone thought it was. Citing German media , the Guardian reports that residents of the building had called the cops after their doorbells kept ringing late at night, with no one at the...

This Snail's Failed Love Life Is Getting Global Attention

Ned's shell coils to the left, not the right

(Newser) - Ned is a perfectly nice snail. If he had a dating profile, it might read: good listener, stable home, likes broccoli, seeks love. But he's already exhausted his local options and it's not because he's picky or unappealing. Instead, he's a common garden snail with an...

Raccoon Got Drunk on Peaches, Is Saved by Nurse

Kentucky's Misty Combs did chest compressions to save raccoon passed out in dumpster near distillery

(Newser) - We may have to tweak the phrase "drunk as a skunk" to "drunk as a raccoon." In a story explaining that but leaving a lot to unpack, a Kentucky woman rescued a juvenile raccoon she discovered passed out in rainwater at the bottom of a dumpster—then...

Topps Just Put a Squirrel on a Baseball Card

Company anoints the critter a Yankee after weekend visit

(Newser) - The newest Yankee stands about 7 inches tall. Topps, the company behind the MLB's baseball cards, is out with a new card featuring a squirrel that charmed New York fans over the weekend, reports UPI . At one point, the critter had something of a staredown on the mound with...

Man Digs Through Landfill to Find Wife's Wedding Rings

Now that's true love

(Newser) - A movie date for a Canadian couple married 26 years turned into a big, messy adventure after the wife's wedding rings ended up at the dump. Steve Van Ysseldyk and wife Jeannine returned from the movie theater with a bag of popcorn, but accidentally spilled it in their garden....

Firefighters Detail 'Unique' Rescue
Guy Enters Children's Slide,
Fails to Exit
in case you missed it
Aug 23, 2025 6:35 AM CDT

Guy Enters Children's Slide, Fails to Exit

At least not until the fire department showed up and cut him out

(Newser) - It probably seemed like an excellent idea. But a 40-year-old man who tried to go down a children's tube slide in Vermont head first has learned a valuable lesson. As the Vernon Fire Department recounts , the mercifully unidentified man got hopelessly stuck about halfway down on Saturday. What's...

Cops Who Thought Bear Killed Elderly Man Have New Theory

Police now say son actually stabbed 93-year-old Fujiyoshi Shindo to death in Japan

(Newser) - When Fujiyoshi Shindo's wife found the 93-year-old's body Monday in a bedroom in their home in the Japanese city of Daisen, authorities initially suspected he'd been mauled by a bear. Looks like an ursine suspect is now off the hook, as police have updated their analysis to...

Adams' Adviser Out After Slipping Reporter Bag of Cash

And not that much cash, in a potato chip bag, gets Winnie Greco booted from mayor's reelection campaign

(Newser) - A longtime former aide to New York Mayor Eric Adams has been benched from his reelection campaign after an unusual handoff. More than $100 in cash, stuffed inside a red envelope and nestled in a bag of potato chips, found its way from Winnie Greco to a reporter from...

If Stuck in Flight Delay Hell, Dave Koz Is Your Man

Saxophonist and his band break out the music for fellow passengers on a delayed plane

(Newser) - Passengers on a flight from St. Louis to Seattle got an unexpected pick-me-up when jazz saxophonist Dave Koz and his bandmates held an impromptu jam session in the aisle while the plane was stuck on the tarmac hundreds of miles from their final destination. As the AP reports, it happened...

'Best Building of All Time' Makes a Very Slow Move

Church in Kiruna, Sweden, is being transported 3 miles at 0.3 mph, on a trolley with 224 wheels

(Newser) - How do you move one of Sweden's most beloved wooden churches down the road? The Kiruna Church—"Kiruna Kyrka" in Swedish—and its belfry are being moved this week along a 3-mile route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation. It's...

Young Chinese People Are Paying for Pretend Jobs

Their reasons range from needing structure to outright deception

(Newser) - Nobody wants to work for free, let alone pay for the privilege. But, in China, where unemployment is a massive problem for young people, more and more are waking up, getting dressed, commuting, and clocking into "pretend-to-work offices" where they can convince themselves—or others—that they're gainfully...

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