News of the Weird: Week of September 18, 2025

Expand

News of the Weird newspapers illustration

Defies Categorization

In Manchester, England, a band called Bionic and the Wires is on the cutting edge of fun-guy (fungi) music, Metro News reported on Sept. 2. Jon Ross and Andy Kidd are producing music by attaching sensors to mushrooms and plants to turn their electrical signals into musical notes. The sensors are attached to bionic arms, which strike the instruments. The different organisms create different beats. "It's a really good way to connect with (plants and mushrooms) and a really sort of emotional experience," Ross said.

That's Not How You Play

In a new twist on Ding Dong Ditch, German authorities have identified the culprit of late-night doorbell rings in Schwabach, Bavaria, United Press International reported on Sept. 9. Police were called to an apartment building where several residents complained of the unexpected doorbells, but they couldn't see anyone on their front-door cameras. They suspected that kids were pranking them, but authorities discovered that a slug was crawling across a panel and triggering several doorbells in the process. Officers relocated the slug and declined to press charges.

Animal Antics

A baby raccoon that was dubbed Otis Campbell (after the town drunk on "The Andy Griffith Show") was rescued from certain death by a nurse in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in early September, Lex18-TV reported. Misty Combs works at the Letcher County Health Department, right next door to Kentucky Mist Moonshine. She and her co-workers noticed a raccoon running through the parking lot, then heard commotion in a nearby dumpster. The moonshine company "had put some fermented peaches in their dumpster," Combs said, "and I guess the baby raccoons had gotten in." The mother raccoon was frantic, so the RN got busy. One of the babies was rescued with a shovel and ran to its mom, but the other one was face-down in water at the bottom of the container. Combs pulled it out by its tail and started chest compressions, and the animal started breathing again. Fish and wildlife officials transported the drunk baby to a local vet for sobering up, and it was released back to its mother the following day.

Least Competent Criminal

As the Rhapsody of the Seas cruise ship pulled into port in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 7, one passenger disembarked in a most unusual way, USA Today reported. Jey Gonzalez-Diaz jumped ship with his backpack, a criminal complaint alleges, which contained $14,600, two phones and five IDs. Two passing jet skis picked him up, and Customs and Border Protection later detained him near the Puerto Rico Capitol. Gonzalez-Diaz told CBP that he went overboard because "he thought he was going to be taxed duties for bringing in the currency," but it turned out he also had a $16,710 debt with the cruise line, "almost exclusively associated to casino and gaming expenses," CBP said. Gonzalez-Diaz could face a fine of $250,000, a five-year prison sentence or both.

Questionable Judgment

Sean O'Donnell, 46, of Harris County, Texas, was charged with murder in late August, NBC News reported on Sept. 2. When deputies first responded on Aug. 17 at O'Donnell's home, they found Aaron Pratt, 34, with a gunshot wound to his head. He died from his injuries. Authorities first believed his death was a suicide, but then said "things weren't adding up." Allegedly, O'Donnell and Pratt were taking turns shooting each other in the head with a rifle while wearing a Kevlar helmet (and while being under the influence of alcohol). O'Donnell was held on $300,000 bond.

Can't Possibly Be True

An 80-year-old woman from Sapporo, Japan, is the latest victim of an online "astronaut," the South China Morning Post reported on Sept. 5. The man met the octogenarian on social media and claimed to be aboard a spaceship orbiting Earth. He went on to convince her that his ship was "under attack" and he was running out of oxygen -- which could only be remedied by the transfer of 1 million yen to his bank account so he could buy more. Investigators said her communications with the fake spaceman showed she had developed "romantic feelings" for him.

Recent Alarming Headline

Richard Catrone, 67, of retirement community Belmont Villas in Long Island, New York, was walking his dog on Sept. 9 when 76-year-old Kathleen Schuman emerged from her apartment and shot Catrone in the face with a flare gun, NBCWashington reported. As seen on home security video, Catrone let go of his dog's leash and lunged at Schuman: "My next inclination was to get the gun and I knocked it out of her hand ... I wanted to protect my dog," Catrone said. "She claimed I was the devil, that I tried to murder her." Neighbors said the two have feuded before over Schuman sitting outside with her cat, which was "always upsetting his dog." "I just asked her can you keep the cat inside," Catrone said, "and that started the situation." Schuman was charged with assault and pleaded not guilty; her attorney said she would temporarily live with a relative.

The Neighbors

"Gorilla-obsessed" Adele Teale, 58, is battling the Wakefield, Yorkshire, council where she lives over a 4-foot-tall resin gorilla she installed on a second-story platform on the front of her house, the Daily Star reported. The "cherished" gorilla, named Caesar, has been deemed "out of character with the surrounding area" and "an obtrusive feature" by the council. "He's nothing more than a garden ornament," Teale said. "He is secure up there -- he has been screwed and glued in place. I own the house, it's mine, so surely I can have whatever I want outside to decorate it. Caesar makes me smile -- he makes me happy."

Awesome!

Have no fear, if you live in Greenville, South Carolina -- Spider-Man is on the job! The 18-year-old superhero fills his down time with picking up litter, meeting fans and listening to his police scanner, WYFF4-TV reported on Sept. 10. Lately, though, he's been busy, recently saving two people stuck on a waterfall at Falls Park. "So, I saw one of them almost slip and fall ... and I jumped over some rocks to get over there. ... And then they grabbed my wrist, and I pulled them up," the "friendly downtown Spider-Man" explained. "My intention is to help the people of Greenville, protect and honestly spread kindness along the way," he said.

But Why?

All the king's horses and all the king's men are looking for two men who nabbed a Humpty Dumpty statue from Ocean Putt Miniature Golf in Cape May, New Jersey, on Sept. 7. NBC4-TV reported that the thieves were captured on surveillance video as they climbed a fence and removed the character before dropping it at a property a few doors away. Police hope the public will help them identify the bad eggs who vandalized the statue.

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

News of the Weird is now a podcast on all major platforms! Visit newsoftheweirdpodcast.com to find out more.                                        

COPYRIGHT 2023 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

1130 Walnut, Kansas City MO 64106; 800-255-6734