Weird News

If you've ever wondered how Amazon can get packages to people so damn fast, get a load of this ... it might just answer your question.

TMZ got footage of a remote location just east of L.A. where the online retailing giant stashes hundreds of delivery vans ... literally at the ready in a hillside dirt parking lot. Check out the clip, it's an impressive sight ... rows upon rows -- each at least 100 deep -- of vehicles parked side-by-side.

BTW, this isn't Amazon going rogue and plopping its fleet in a random open space -- like much of L.A.'s real estate lately ... Jeff Bezos is paying for this space. Although, he didn't buy this one yet ... Amazon's just renting.

Ya gotta figure Amazon has similar hidden storage spots all over the country.

Naturally, that might lead to more criticism of Bezos himself, who's been grilled lately for not being quick enough to offset Amazon's massive carbon footprint on the environment. Ya still gotta give him credit for recently starting a new Earth Fund with billions of dollars of his own cash.

President Trump isn't nearly as healthy as his former physician would like, even after the good doc admittedly tried to slip POTUS some white stuff -- that's right -- CAULIFLOWER!!!

Former White House physician Ronny Jackson is coming clean about what Trump would likely consider a wide-reaching conspiracy ... to make him healthy. Jackson told the New York Times, "We were working on his diet. We were making the ice cream less accessible, we were putting cauliflower into the mashed potatoes."

That's right ... a dirty spuds substitute slipped right under the President's nose, and into his gut. No reaction from the White House yet after Jackson's bold confession.

Jackson stepped down from his position to run for Congress in Texas, but before his departure he was on Trump's favored list. You might recall, following Trump's 2018 physical ... Jackson said the Prez had "incredible genes" and could live to 200 ... IF he had a better diet.

He also said he was going to help Trump lose 10 to 15 pounds with the help of an exercise bike. How's that worked out?

Jackson admits, "The exercise stuff never took off as much as I wanted."

Joe Burrow's NFL career might be over before it even began ... and it's all because of his small mitts!!!

Of course, the Heisman winner and projected #1 overall pick's small paw dilemma was revealed prior to the NFL combine this week ... with his hand measuring 9 inches from thumb to pinky -- which would tie for the smallest QB hands since 2008.

Now, the tiny hands didn't stop Burrow from leading the LSU Tigers to a perfect season and posting some of the best QB numbers the sport has ever seen ... but people like to freak out over this kinda stuff.

Burrow decided to break his silence over the reports on Monday ... and he faced the music with some good, old-fashioned comedy gold!!!

"Considering retirement after I was informed the football will be slipping out of my tiny hands. Please keep me in your thoughts," Burrow tweeted.

The Philadelphia Phillies debuted a new look for their beloved mascot, the Phanatic, this weekend -- but in very anticlimactic fashion ... he appears to have not changed very much.

The lovable, green monster furball trotted out onto the field Sunday ahead of the team's game against the Pirates in Clearwater, FL -- where they're hosting their Spring Training home opener. The buzz was that the costume would look a bit different ... for legal reasons.

Long story short ... Phillies brass are in the middle of this legal sitch with the original creators of the Phanatic's design, Bonnie Erickson and Wayde Harrison, who drew up what fans have come to enjoy for decades now. Well, the rights expire this summer ... and the two designers want their fair cut in order to have the mascot continue being used by the team.

It doesn't appear the Phillies wanna pay Erickson and Harrison though, so they've come up with this new design that's supposed to be different enough to avoid having to pony up potentially millions. This is what they came up with, and frankly ... kinda the same, no?

ACTUALLY ... there are slight modifications to the suit. The nose is a bit shorter and more evenly rounded, and it looks ol' Phanatic here dropped a few pounds too. The new mascot also has different colored socks, shoes and a bigger caboose -- plus, wings along the arms.

Tyson Fury ... YOU NASTY!!!

The boxing star not only beat up Deontay Wilder in their heavyweight clash Saturday night -- he LICKED THE BLOOD off Wilder's neck during the fight!!

31-year-old Fury had dominated from the start -- teeing off on the Bronze Bomber (and likely busting his eardrum in the process) in their highly anticipated rematch.

Wilder was dripping blood all over the place -- and during the 6th round, Fury flicked out his tongue and began licking the blood off of Wilder's bloody neck!!!!

It was super gross -- and Fury loved it.

Wilder's corner ultimately threw in the towel in Round 7 -- it was clear Deontay just didn't have it Saturday night.

After the fight, Fury's crazy antics continued ... he grabbed the mic and sang Don McLean's "American Pie" while encouraging the Vegas crowd to sing along! The place went nuts!

Fury praised Wilder as a great fighter and said he thinks Deontay will be champion again -- but for now, Tyson reminded everyone why he's the "Gypsy King."

Still, the tongue thing was super gross ... your highness.

'Mad' Mike Hughes is believed to possibly be dead after launching himself in the air with a self-made rocket that crash-landed -- and it was captured on camera.

The well-known daredevil and amateur rocket-engineer was doing a rocket launch Saturday in what appears to be near Barstow, CA -- where a reporter says Mike propelled himself into the air with a "self-made steam-powered rocket" and then crash-landed into the ground.

The reporter, Justin Chapman, adds, "Very likely did not survive." He tells TMZ ... Mike is confirmed to be dead there on the ground as well.

In the video, you see a parachute fly out of the rocket, but it doesn't appear anyone is using it. The presumption, for now, is that Mike might've stayed in the rocket as it ascended hundreds of feet into the air.

Mike's rep, Darren Shuster, tells TMZ he was NOT at the launch Saturday, but does believe his longtime client to be deceased based on what he's seen and heard. Darren says Mike was a "one-of-a-kind" adding, "When God made Mike he broke the mold. The man was the real deal and lived to push the edge. He wouldn’t have gone out any other way! RIP"

For Saturday's experiments, Mike is said to have been attempting to get as close to space from Earth as possible -- otherwise known as the Karman line, about 62 miles above Earth's surface -- without the use of advanced tech you might find at NASA or SpaceX.

Much more tragic, Mike seemed pretty stoked for the launch this weekend. He posted a video describing his rocket, where it would go down and what he was aiming to achieve. BTW, he was a big flat-earth believer -- and a doc was even made about him trying to prove it.

We've reached out to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Dept. for comment ... so far, no word back. However, we were told by a dispatcher at the Victor Valley Sheriff's Station that a call for service had been placed Saturday out of Barstow -- the nature of which is unclear.

Mike was 64. RIP

This is NOT what the saying "grin and bear it" is all about -- but a bunch of Southern California residents seem to think so -- coming face-to-face with one of nature's purest killing machines.

This fairly beefy-sized bear is taking a leisurely Friday morning stroll through driveways, front yards and streets of Monrovia, CA -- which is a little northeast of L.A. -- and the neighbors are giving him the paparazzi treatment.

FOX11 LA's camera people are pretty brave to capture these images, but at least they get paid -- unlike the locals who are getting dangerously close to what we think is a black bear.

Officials suspect this is the same bear that was spotted outside an elementary school on Thursday ... but now it's getting even more comfortable in the 'hood.

So far, it's walked right up to several front doors, and even nearly came nose-to-nose with a dog. We're happy to report no people or animals have been harmed yet. Bear sightings are common in this part of SoCal, but we don't usually see them linger this long and take this much interest in just about everything.

So far, this guy doesn't seem aggressive -- probably just seeking a picnic basket or 2 -- but still, he's got huge claws!!! Those too-curious humans are not nearly as big or as fast.

Just sayin' ...

Prince Harry is just fine making runs for his own grub -- now that he's a Royal outsider -- because he's about the only person who smiles this much during errands.

Here's how the Duke of Sussex spells Sunday fun day -- we got this shot of him bolting out of a grocery store on Vancouver Island, where it appears he picked up a couple sandwiches to go. Somebody was hangry -- Harry or Meghan Markle -- based on his grin.

His average Joe transformation continues ... Harry rocked a baseball cap, light jacket and some jeans, and wasn't trying to hide his face. Nothing to see here, just a former heir to the throne picking up sandwiches.

This might have been his last time ordering out as a Royal. Queen Elizabeth II reportedly ordered Harry and Meghan to cease using the word "royal" in their online branding -- which royally screws their "Sussex Royal" website and Instagram.

Still got a couple sandos to show for it, Harry. Chin up!!

Fun Fact: Sandwiches are named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich in 18th Century England. Far as we know, he kept his title. Smart.

Just when you thought technology couldn't get any crazier, Dubai turns the corner in the jetpack game ... and their latest gizmo's got us thinking superheroes here.

The Crown Prince, Hamdan Mohammed, linked to a video Monday morning showing off a sweet flight path taken by pilot Vince Reffe --- referred to as Jetman Dubai -- who flies around the city with an incredibly advanced jetpack that lets him zip around like Iron Man.

Check it out ... the dude doesn't just hover (which we've seen before). He actually reaches high-level altitudes here -- supposedly, as much as 1,800 meters in the air. And, BTW, this thing is pretty damn fast ... he reached these heights in a matter of seconds.

Not only that, but the pilot even does some light aerobatics up there before eventually using a parachute to come safely back down. There's a GoPro-like camera attached to the wings of the jetpack, so you get an up-close-and-personal look at his journey. It's wild.

Akon's plan to bring a futuristic city to his childhood country of Senegal is getting closer to coming to fruition, and he's going to show it off soon ... a 3D rendering anyway.

The singer was at LAX Wednesday when he gave us an update on "Akon City" ... which he says is 7 years in the making so far, and he's still cutting through the red tape.

Akon confirms what he announced last month -- he's finalized an agreement for the city and secured the land ... but adds he's now working on a partnership with the government to implement tax-free policies and incentives he wants to attract business.

He says he's dead serious about his city resembling Wakanda from "Black Panther" -- with all the latest and most progressive technology -- and believes it's in the perfect geographical location to make it happen.

Akon drops some more facts about West Africa to paint a picture of what Akon City's going to look like ... and says he'll drop a YouTube video soon to share his vision.

Ever wanted to put your seemingly useless talents to good use -- AKA, getting ca$$$h??? It's your lucky day, 'cause TMZ's got the dough, and we're ready to dish it out for some video.

Welcome to the "Show Us Your Talent" contest, where all you gotta do is capture your unique skills on camera and submit it here before Feb. 25 by 11:59 PM. TMZ will take a gander at all of the submissions, and whoever we like best will get $5,000. CASH. How 'bout that?!

What's more, we'll also get you some face time over the airwaves and put you on our show, "TMZ on TV." If you want an idea of what we're looking for, check out the vid above.

We got some of our own crew members to juggle, blow into a giant horn thingy, hula hoop and even tell weird jokes and recite facts. You can do better than that though, right??

Now, just to give you some quick basic parameters -- we're looking for a video no longer than 90 seconds, and also ... something we can broadcast without getting fined by the FCC. So keep it clean, people. Anything nifty, neat, clever or awe-inspiring will do just fine.

JaVale McGee is getting in on the newest Internet craze, the #BroomstickChallenge ... which is dope and all, except for the fact it's all a bunch of hogwash!!

The trend started sweeping (ha) through social media on Monday ... with word spreading that NASA claimed February 10, 2020 was the only day a broom would be able to stand on its own due to some sort of gravitational pull mumbo jumbo.

Despite no real word coming from NASA ... the challenge took a life of its own, with folks like Future and Tory Lanez trying it out with success.

The Lakers stud got in on the action before his game against the Phoenix Suns ... and couldn't believe his eyes!!

"That's crazy," McGee said as he proved the broom wasn't being held up by anything else.

If you don't believe it, JaVale ... give it another try today. Considering the whole thing is a hoax and this can happen 365 days a year.

Manu Ginobili has turned into a straight-up SUPERHERO in retirement ... 'cause the NBA legend sprang into action and helped rescue a grandma who fell down a sand dune!

Here's what went down ... Twitter user @almumansi (who goes by AM) says her grandmother was at the beach in Blanca Bay, Argentina when she decided to try to climb a sand dune, but fell.

That's when 2 men -- including 42-year-old Manu -- sprinted to help the lady, picked her up and carried her to safety.

AM says by the time she got to the scene, she noticed her grandma was taking a pic with one of the heroes ... and realized it was MANU FREAKIN' GINOBILI!!!

Of course, Manu is from Argentina and spends a lot of time in his home country during retirement.

Ginobili was a helluva ballplayer during his career ... and is a shoo-in for the basketball Hall of Fame. But, stories like this are much better than any highlight on the court.

Was NBA star Aaron Gordon baked out of his mind when he appeared on the "Inside the NBA" pregame show???

Judging by the video of Shaquille O'Neal making a bunch of "high" jokes at Aaron's expense ... it sure seems the Big Diesel thinks so.

Here's the deal ... Gordon appeared on the show Tuesday night via satellite ... but something seemed a little off.

Shaq took notice and started making jokes about how "high" Gordon and Zach LaVine jumped during the Dunk Contest in 2016 ... and kept hammering the point.

"They were so high ... I was like 'Damn, these boys are high!' Man, these boys are getting HIGH as hell!"

The jokes continued ... cohost Adam Lefkoe ended the segment by advising Gordon to go out there and keep "smoking the competition."