News of the Weird: Week of November 20, 2025

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Finders Keepers

The town council in Neuville-sur-Saone, France, delivered good news to a homeowner on Nov. 5, CBS News reported: He can keep the $800,000 worth of gold bars and coins he unearthed while digging for a swimming pool in his backyard. The gold was stashed in plastic bags; the man alerted authorities in May, when he found the treasure. Police said they were able to determine that the gold had not been stolen, and the home's previous owner had died, so it belongs to the current resident.

Least Competent Criminals

Police in Windsor, Connecticut, can't credit their amazing investigative skills after they apprehended two men who stole a huge highway sign on I-91. WFSB-TV reported that Andrew Scott Lampkin, 42, and Jonathan Riopelle, 46, from Vernon, Connecticut, allegedly removed the sign and strapped it to the bed of a pickup truck around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 5. The thieves were charged with third-degree larceny, reckless use of a highway by a pedestrian and improper parking on a highway.

Odd Rescue

As Colleen Dunn was walking her dogs on the beach in Manzanita, Oregon, one early evening in October, she came upon a beached shark. Rather than steering clear or calling the authorities, Dunn told KGW-TV, "I just made the quick decision to get him back into the deep Pacific Ocean." A veteran viewer of "Shark Week," Dunn knew that if she dragged the shark by its tail, it wouldn't be able to bite her; with some effort, she was able to wrangle the shark first to shallow water, then push it into water deep enough for it to swim away. Shark expert Taylor Chapple of Oregon University identified the shark as a juvenile salmon shark and said it is not uncommon for the creatures to experience shock while swimming in colder waters and end up beached.

Recurring Themes

It's falling iguana time again in Florida! With this year's first cold blast making it all the way to the Sunshine State, The Guardian reported on Nov. 10, Floridians are being warned about paralyzed reptiles tumbling out of trees and hitting them on the head. While some people are moved to help the stunned iguanas, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission warns against intervening. "Once they recover and warm up, they could act defensively." Also, it's illegal to relocate or release captured iguanas. Just let 'em lie, folks.

Questionable Judgment

Tucker Kemp, 31, of St. Petersburg, Florida, is rethinking his decisions after an incident in a local Starbucks last month. According to The Smoking Gun, Kemp had stopped for a tea when he noticed a pride flag hanging on the wall inside the store. He told the manager he was "offended by the flag and ... they should put up an American flag." Then he allegedly threw his tea at the flag and tore it off the wall before stuffing it into a trash can. Kemp was arrested for criminal mischief and spent a few hours in jail -- but the long-term consequences may have been more influential. Kemp lost his job at nearby Dignity Memorial and is on the hunt for a new gig. He said his "poor decisions ... led to my rightful arrest and termination from my career." Anyone looking for a recalcitrant funeral director?

Nope

In an underwater cave on the border between Greece and Albania, scientists have discovered a spider web that spans 1,076.4 square feet along a wall, People magazine reported on Nov. 11. The web is home to an estimated 110,000 spiders of two different species. Istvan Urak of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Romania visited the cave to analyze the web. "It is a unique case of two species cohabiting within the same web structure in this huge number," he said. The cave is also home to 512 other species of spiders.

Powerful Pipes

The Great Melbourne Bagpipe Bash at Federation Square in Victoria, Australia, brought together 374 bagpipers on Nov. 12 to pay tribute to rock legends AC/DC with a performance of "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)," shattering the world record for the most bagpipers in a single performance, as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Among the ragtag assembly were none other than Les Kenfield and Kevin Conlon, who were members of the Rats of Tobruk Memorial Highland Band in the 1970s and performed in the piper trio seen in AC/DC's video for the song, which was filmed just a few blocks from Federation Square in 1976. Kenfield hopes the event, which brought together pipers of all ages, will inspire renewed interest in the instrument. "Piping is really a dying art," Kenfield said. "In my band, if everyone over 70 resigned, there would be no band left."

Call of the Wild

Amherst Junior High School in Amherst, Ohio, was the site of an early morning surprise on Nov. 13, FOX 8 reported. According to a press release issued by Principal Andrew Hoffman, a large deer crashed through one of the school cafeteria's windows, startling "a couple of students and staff" who were preparing for breakfast. Video of the incident showed the deer fighting to gain traction on the slick cafeteria floor before lying down in exhaustion. Staff members and the Amherst Police Department were able to keep the deer corralled in the cafeteria before herding it toward a set of doors they had propped open to provide the deer with an escape route. "As shocking as the event was to witness, we are happy to report that no significant injuries took place," Hoffman said, while assuring that "all students were offered the opportunity to receive breakfast during 1st period."

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.  

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