Weird News

THIS is some real-life superhero stuff here -- NJ State Troopers yanking a trucker to safety right as his 18-wheeler burst into a ball of flames ... and it's all on video.

It really looks like something straight out of a Hollywood action flick -- the officers encountered the burning rig on a highway in Bridgewater Township. Cops say the truck went off the road Monday afternoon and hit a guardrail while an officer was making a traffic stop nearby.

Trooper Robert Tarleton heard the crash and you can see in the video ... he immediately left the stopped car and bolted toward the truck, which was already on fire.

You gotta see Tarleton running at top speed, and when he got to the rig another officer -- Lieutenant Edward Ryder -- was there trying to free the driver from his cab. Together, they pulled him to safety with, literally, a second to spare.

"I'm getting a little bit of the meat sweats."

That's Joey Chestnut in the middle of pounding 32 Big Macs on Thursday ... and, yeah, it's the most disgusting/awesome thing you'll see all day.

The competitive eating legend posted the video on his social media ... saying he was having a cheat day and wanted to accomplish something he -- nor any other person -- had ever done.

So, the dude set out to grab a McDonald's world record ... and fired up his phone to get 15.36 POUNDS of Big Macs delivered to his crib.

What happened next is pretty graphic ... he slammed all 32 burgers -- pickles, lettuce, special sauce and all -- and sweated ruthlessly throughout the meal!!

But, in true Chestnut fashion ... he dominated the challenge -- setting the world record (it had previously been 30) -- and afterward, he looked pretty damn good for a guy that consumed 18,016 calories in less than an hour!!

Of course, Joey's used to these kinds of feats ... he owns the annual Nathan's Hot Dog-Eating Contest, eating a record 74 wieners back in 2018.

Crazy story in Australia ... cops say a man used a fishing rod FOR HOURS to steal a Versace necklace from a store last month -- and they say the whole thing was caught on video.

Detectives in Melbourne say on Feb. 24 ... a man rolled up to a storefront with a rod and reel at around 2 AM and began to work on trying to nab a pricey piece of jewelry off a mannequin.

Cops say for nearly 3 hours ... the guy was caught on video sticking the rod through a crack in the store window.

You can see in some footage of the alleged crime released by cops this week, the guy has some SERIOUS patience -- and it all begs the question ... WHERE THE HELL IS EVERYONE?!?!?!

Eventually ... authorities say the dude was able to land his catch and flee the scene -- and now, they're asking for help to identify him.

When we got comedian Brad Williams out in L.A. on Wednesday night and asked him about the burglary ... he says cops can't even be mad at the guy -- telling us the crime is ingenious.

But, Williams says the guy screwed up in one big way ... and his thievery advice for the dude going forward is pretty hilarious!!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous mug and iconic voice are being ripped-off by a Russian robot manufacturer, and he wants more than $10 million to make it right ... or for the robot to go hasta la vista.

Arnold's company is suing Promobot, which makes autonomous service robots consumers can customize to look human. The product's called the Android Robo-C, and can be made to look like a person of your choosing.

The problem -- according to the suit -- Arnold did not give permission to Promobot to use HIS likeness to promote it, and is generally very strict about his face being used for ads because "such activity diminishes his hard-earned and well-deserved reputation as a major motion picture star." However, according to the lawsuit ... he's become the "unwilling face" of the product.

Arnold's company claims Promobot is using the Arnold-like model at public events to promote and market the Android Robo-C. Even more egregiously ... Promobot allegedly asked Arnold to pose for a photo with its robot while he was in St. Petersberg to deliver a speech in 2019 ... and he refused.

However, according to the suit, Promobot kept using the Arnold android ... including at CES in Vegas in January. At that point, Arnold's attorney -- legal pit bull Marty Singer -- fired off a cease and desist letter to the robot company demanding it stop.

Singer made it clear to Promobot ... he's won cases like this in the past, including scoring a judgment for more than $2.5 mil for Priscilla Presley, who's "far less commercially valuable" than Schwarzenegger. In fact, Arnold says he would not have accepted anything less than $10 million for using his likeness.

Promobot allegedly assured Arnold's team it would cease using the Arnold-bot ... it popped up again at the New York Toy Fair at the end of February. Hence, a lawsuit's now been filed for misappropriation of Arnold's right of publicity.

Amanda Knox and her hubby are set to officially tie the knot this weekend in a celebration that's gonna be out-of-this-world ... yet fully in the Pacific Northwest.

Knox and Christopher Robinson -- who got legally married back in 2018 -- are having their wedding ceremony Saturday at an Elk's Lodge in Washington State. We're told the theme is space/Star Wars and guests are in for a galactic celebration.

We're imagining the original 'Star Wars' cantina scene, but maybe that's just us. Remember, these 2 space cadets got engaged with a bizarre "E.T." recreation in their backyard.

Knox and Robinson's registry is full of galaxy photos and in place of gifts, attendees were encouraged to donate to the final cost of the wedding. Guests who donated $500, $1000 and $2000 are promised special shout-outs during the ceremony.

Knox, who is now 32, was accused of brutally murdering her roommate in 2007 while she was an exchange student in the city of Perugia in Italy.

Famed tightrope walker Nik Wallenda's not the least bit shaken about his upcoming volcano stunt after another daredevil's recent death -- 'cause he says life or death is just his thing.

We got Nik out Thursday in NYC, and wondered if he's at all concerned about walking over the very active Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua next week. That will come on the heels of daredevil "Mad" Mike Hughes' fatally crashing a rocket in California.

Nik, who last summer tightrope walked 25 stories over Times Square, says there's no doubt he's risking his life but this is the business he was literally born into, and risk is just his reality. That being said, Nik admits he has some logistical concerns ... with the volcano itself.

He says the acidic gases it emits add a layer of stress. Nik, who is training with wind machines and an oxygen-deprivation mask, said the volcanic gases could pose a real threat to the wire. Then there's the heat, but oddly he's less worried about that.

Who ya gonna call? The Ghostbusters ain't in L.A. yet, so instead the Sheriff's Dept. is on the job, searching for a hearse, fully-loaded -- if ya get our drift -- that was stolen from a church.

Yeah, someone boarded the Hell Express and jacked a black Lincoln Navigator Wednesday night from outside a Greek Orthodox church in Pasadena ... according to cops. The luxury ride was carrying a casket containing a deceased woman who was going to be delivered to a different location.

The theft strikes even L.A. cops as especially bizarre ... or macabre.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department tweeted a helpful hint to the suspect, saying ... "Out of all the bad decisions you have made, at least make one good one & bring back the deceased person & casket inside the Navigator."

If you're in SoCal, the Navigator hearse has the California license plate 7ZDG618.

Look for flames too. If the Sheriff doesn't catch 'em, we're thinking Satan will.

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' ...