10 Unique and Bizarre News Stories

It is always fun to read about the latest unusual and bizarre news stories.  The world is full of unexplained events that have been published by the media.  These events can be funny, scary, or strange, but are always interesting.  The best kind of bizarre news stories are the ones that inspire, make people laugh, show weird videos, or cause us to question science.  Some of the most popular topics include Sasquatches, aliens, sea monsters, unexplained explosions, weird deaths, animal bravery, strange purchases, ironic stories, and anything funny.  This article will examine ten bizarre news stories that have been published as of late. 10.  Be Careful On Twitter Did you ever wonder what would happen if you decided to play a joke and publish some outlandish material on your Facebook or Twitter page?  I wouldn’t recommend it.  In January of 2012, a British man named Leigh Van Bryan was planning a trip to the United States and wrote on his Twitter account, “Free this week for a quick gossip before I go and destroy America.”  It should be mentioned that “destroy” is a slang term in the UK for “party.”  As soon as the sentence was entered on Twitter, the security software took over and Leigh Van Bryan was flagged by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. When Leah attempted to enter the United States with his friend Emily Banting, the two were questioned by the FBI over the tweets.  The FBI searched the couple’s bags for weapons and a shovel.  Leigh also tweeted a quote from the television show Family Guy about digging up the body of Marilyn Monroe.  The two were held under suspicion of planning to “commit crimes”.  Their passports were confiscated, they was arrested, held overnight, and kicked out of the U.S.  During the event, Leigh Van Bryan was placed in a jail cell with two large men.  At dinner, Leigh was left with no food. Emily Banting was quoted: “The officials told us we were not allowed in to the country because of Leigh’s tweet.  They wanted to know what we were going to do.”  Leigh said: “I kept saying to them they had got the wrong meaning from my tweet, but they just told me “you’ve really messed up boy.”  In the future, if Leigh or Emily wants to travel to the United States, they must reapply for visas at the U.S. Embassy in London.  The moral of the story, don’t post any stupid quotes on Twitter, even if you are joking.  Somebody is always watching, and that somebody has no sense of humor whatsoever. Story 9.  Haikou City Strangler For all women reading this, I am going to let you know that men’s testicles are sensitive.  They don’t like to be punched, kicked, or grabbed.  They prefer to just kinda hang out.  In fact, men can die if you squeeze their testicles so hard that they are rendered unconscious.  In April of 2012, this happened in the Meilan District of Haikou City, China, when a 41-year-old unidentified woman killed a man by squeezing his testicles so hard that he passed out. On the day in question, the woman attempted to park her scooter in front of the man’s shop.  The shop owner didn’t want her to park there and the two started to yell at each other, which quickly escalated into a physical altercation.  They slapped at each other, and then the woman latched onto the man’s testicles so hard that he was left unconscious.  By the time she was done, he was dead.  The case was extremely rare, and might be the first-ever death by testicular asphyxiation.  The woman was arrested, but it remains unclear what her punishment will be, especially since “eye for an eye” is kinda impossible in this case. Story 8.  Golden Cloth of Spider Silk One of the most unique spiders in the world is the golden silk orb-weaver.  There are currently over 150 species of the spider in the world, and the orb-weaver is known for creating beautiful golden webs.  In 2004, a group of researchers undertook a project to create a marvelous piece of golden cloth from the spider silk of orb-weaver spiders.  In order to achieve the goal, the group collected over 1 million female spiders from the telephone poles of Madagascar.  They extracted about 80 feet (24.3 meters) of golden silk filament from each spider and then put them back in the wild.  It took over five years to collect enough silk for the cloth, and the final result was an 11-foot by 4-foot (3.3 by 1.2 meter) textile. Despite its sparking beauty, the cloth is important because scientists have been able to test it.  For decades, humans have been trying to replicate the properties of spider silk without success.  The material is extremely elastic and strong.  In fact, the tensile strength of spider silk is comparable to that of high-grade alloy steel.  It also stretches to 40% of its normal length before breaking.  Scientists have tried to raise spiders in captivity for their silk, but it is difficult because they tend to kill each other.  The golden cloth is a true work of art and has been displayed at various museums.  In 2012, it was featured at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, along with several gorgeous pieces that have been created since. Story 7.  Defense Robots The War in Afghanistan has put a spotlight on the use of unmanned systems and robotics on the battlefield.  One of the biggest threats to U.S. troops in Afghanistan is roadside bombs.  To fight the problem, the U.S. had deployed more than 6,000 robots in the field.  Approximately 750 of these devices have been destroyed by bombs, which has saved many lives.  These robots are controlled by an operator who watches over the device from a screen.   This is effective, but defense programs would like to create more reliable and advanced robotic designs that are used for reconnaissance missions. One of these designs is a large armored vehicle named the Lockheed’s Squad Mission Support System, which is meant to carry pieces of gear for overloaded foot soldiers.  There is also an Oshkosh’s unmanned vehicle system, which allows one person to control a convoy of heavy cargo trucks.  According to officials, it is difficult to create military robotics for the ground support because fighting is so dynamic and unpredictable.  The Legged Squad Support System (LS3) is a four-legged walking robot design which will be used to carry supplies for combat foot patrols. In 2012, it was announced that the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) completed a robotic cheetah that can run at 18 mph.  The robot set a land speed record for a machine with legs.  The goal of the project is to eventually make a robot that can outrun humans on the battlefield.  The incredible speed was achieved after the engineers mastered a galloping motion, which used the biomechanics of real animals.  The robot’s top speed can be viewed in the above video. It has also been reported that Boston Dynamics is building a humanlike robot, code-named Atlas.  The machine will be capable of walking and jogging upright, squeezing through narrow spots, and grabbing objects.  Like other robots, it will be constructed without a head to make it look less humanlike.  It seems most people don’t want robots running around that look like people.  It’s freaky.  Besides helping military forces, advanced robotic designs can be used for humanitarian purposes, such as rescue efforts and disaster response. Story 6.  Justin Smeja Bigfoot Story One of the most popular stories surrounding Bigfoot of late is the tale of Justin Smeja.  As the story goes, in November of 2010, Justin Smeja was bear-hunting with a friend in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Gold Lake, California.  As the men rounded a corner in their vehicle, they were confronted with the sight of a dirty female Bigfoot 80 yards away.  The creature was in distress and started to move toward the car, waving its arms in the air.  Smeja got out of the vehicle and, despite attempts by the passenger to stop him, shot the Bigfoot.  It stumbled to the ground, got up and tried to run off, switching between two legs and four legs. Shocked by what they had witnessed, the men looked for the Bigfoot and came across two more juvenile creatures.   Smeja then decided to shoot one of the young Sasquatches to death.  This upset his friend, who took the gun away.  It was then reported that the men felt a sense of dread.  They instantly fled the scene, with Smeja fearing punishment for his actions.  Two weeks after the event, Smeja returned to the site with a bloodhound, and supposedly found the remains of the adult Sasquatch.  He removed a piece of flesh from the creature and gave it to a collection of Sasquatch researchers, who examined it for DNA evidence. Justin Smeja described the Bigfoot as looking like a mix between a human, ape, and boxer dog.  The creatures had rounded mouths, black hands with padding, and communicated like humans (vocally similar to the deaf).  The juvenile was reported to be 40 pounds, and the adult 600 pounds.  The adult was approximately 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall, but was much skinnier than the normal portrayal of Sasquatch.  Smeja said the creatures had a bad body odor. After the story started to reach the Internet in 2011, people began to attack Justin Smeja for apparently killing helpless animals.  He has since apologized for the act, and said that he was in a state of shock.  The account is widely known as the Sierra Kills event.  Many people feel the story is another attempt to promote Bigfoot and make money.  In 2012, it was reported that Smeja’s story might be featured in a Hollywood production.  He is also writing a book about the encounter. 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