Weird News

Because Gotham hasn't been through enough in 2020 ... the Joker's popping up his colorful head for some summer hijinks. Naturally.

Somebody dressed as the Clown Prince of Crime himself was spotted this morning riding a jet ski on the East River, in broad daylight no less. He cruised up to a group of bystanders who were recording him this weekend and flaunted his ride, his costume and makeup -- which we're on point -- then sped off.

As for which iteration of the Joker this fella went with -- probably the most popular among today's Batman fans ... Heath Ledger's portrayal from "The Dark Knight." He did it on camera more than a decade ago, but the look still holds up today.

If 2020 hadn't already brought a real-life pandemic that's killed nearly 20,000 in NYC alone, the sight of the Joker arriving in town might have fazed more citizens.

BTW, fun fact -- it seems like this jet skiing Joker has an annual tradition of hitting the water, assuming it was the same guy riding out on the East River with the same exact outfit in 2019.

He was spotted by some other New Yorkers around this time last year, and actress Olivia Wilde even seemed to confirm that she, too, had seen the Joker zipping along out there.

Take this with a big grain of salt, BUT ... we may have a legit UFO sighting on our hands here, people. Give it a gander and decide for yourself.

This footage was taken Sunday out in Long Beach, CA -- about 25 minutes south of central L.A. -- and it appears to show a UFO-like object in the air bolt across the sky at lightning-quick speed and disappear out of frame -- all while of-this-world fighter jets fly above.

The person who shot this insists it is not altered or edited at all -- if you buy that, then you gotta ask what the hell it is that zips across the camera's frame if only for a moment. Watch it as many times as you need to -- we even slowed it down/paused it for a close-up view.

If you look (and listen) carefully, you can see a black dot -- perhaps in a saucer shape, although it's hard to tell by how high it is -- flash across the screen and disappear.

At first glance, one could argue this looks like anything but a flying saucer -- could be a raisin, a fly or nothing at all. OR ... it could very well be aliens checking in on us (again?).

As for the jets you can hear in the background as well, we're told they were out there in LB flying around for no apparent reason for about 10 minutes or so. Unclear if their presence had anything to do with this alleged UFO sighting, but hey ... they could be related.

There's been other purported sightings in that area too of late -- about a couple weeks ago, someone posted another video of a strange object flying in the sky around sunset. They claim this was shot from about 2 miles away and at a height of 1,000 feet, more or less.

The YouTube user also says the thing disappeared on him when he stopped filming, but you don't see any of that on camera. Could just be a kite on a super long string -- or ... ALIENS!!

One last thing to consider ... the New York Times did a story this past week about Pentagon bigwigs working in their UFO Unit (yes, they have one of those). One of the subcontractors who used to work for the feds told the paper he recently briefed a Defense Dept. agency about "off-world vehicles not made on this earth" that they'd retrieved over the years.

A hostage situation in Ukraine ended safely when the country's president met one of the gunman's odd demands -- posting a video encouraging folks to watch a Joaquin Phoenix movie.

Here's the deal ... a heavily armed man took 13 people hostage on a bus in western Ukraine, leading to a tense, day-long standoff Tuesday with police.

The gunman told cops he rigged the bus with explosives and was holding the passengers hostage, and gave the government a list of demands. Sounds a lot like the plot of "Speed," right?!?

The hostage-taker, later identified as 44-year-old Russian-born Maksym S. Kryvosh, finally surrendered and freed all 13 people after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy fulfilled one of the demands -- posting a video on his official Facebook account recommending folks watch the 2005 documentary, "Earthlings."

Can ya believe it? The guy didn't even request "The Joker."

The documentary, directed by Shaun Monson and narrated by Joaquin, focuses on human exploitation of animals. Ukrainian officials explained Zelenskyy reached an agreement with the hostage-taker during a 15-minute phone call, with the gunman surrendering once Zelenskyy posted on Facebook.

Once the gunman was detained and the hostages were safe, Zelenskyy deleted the movie suggestion from his Facebook page.

Kanye West has the proverbial snowball's chance in hell to win the 2020 Presidential election  -- but still, it never hurts to be prepared ... which is why Madame Tussauds already has a presidential bust of the guy.

The famous wax museum has a tradition of making clay head sculptures of our nation's leaders -- they made one for Donald Trump 4 years ago before he won the presidency -- and now they made one for Mr. West.

Hey, you never know -- better to have it on deck and ready to go if the ultimate upset goes down. We've seen it happen before.

Now, bear in mind the sculptures are not the full, colored-in wax statues you might see at any one of its museums around the world. These are different -- we're told they actually place the presidential heads in an Oval Office exhibit.

Here's another thing -- our sources say MT and co. have only done a head-to-head presidential "face-off," if you will, one other time ... and that was for Hillary Clinton and DT. Now, they're running it back -- but oddly enough, they opted for Ye before sculpting Joe Biden.

It's true ... we're told Madame Tussauds' team has not yet completed the Biden bust, but they say should he win, they'll knock it out.

Just goes to show where people's heads are at these days 🤷🏽‍♂️

A volcano in Italy known for blowing its lid every now and then just did it again -- only this time, it was captured on camera at night ... which made for some scary fireworks.

This went down early Sunday morning on the Italian island of Stromboli, which has a very active volcano right in the middle of it that erupts from time to time -- sometimes killing a person or two, at least of late, but mostly just wakes people up and freaks 'em out.

Fortunately, this latest explosion was more of the latter ... the volcano starting going off around 3 AM, but didn't cause any injuries and/or deaths, and no significant damage either. Looks like most of the activity stayed closer to the crater and vent (the peak, basically).

However, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology's observatory near Mt. Etna -- there appeared to be some debris and lava seeping down the slope ... where hikers sometimes visit during the day. So, yeah ... it could've been bad.

In any case, it's crazy to see the thing blowing up and throwing out lava bombs on camera -- webcams that are set up near the top of the volcano caught some of the action. According to reports, the whole thing lasted about four minutes before things settled down.

Scientists say that Sunday's eruption was strong, but not nearly as strong as a couple that happened last summer, which killed one person and sent other tourists running for the sea.

A runaway kangaroo hopping around the streets of Fort Lauderdale is now in a strange new habitat -- the inside of a jail cell!

Here's the deal ... cops captured the misplaced marsupial Thursday after getting tons of calls about the wild animal roaming some neighborhood streets. Yes, even in Florida, that's a strange sight.

As you can see, the kangaroo, whose name is naturally, Jack ... ended up behind bars in a stall at the Mounted Police headquarters, a barn normally reserved for equine officers.

It took a lot of manpower to get Jack in custody ... several police units were needed to surround and pen in the marsupial, who was eventually introduced to the back of a squad car.

Jack's owner, Anthony Macias, says the animal is 2 years old and means no harm.

Police say Jack won't be returned to Anthony because Fort Lauderdale is not zoned for kangaroos ... instead, Jack is being turned over to the South Florida Wildlife Center.

A poor kitty cat got stuck up in a tree, but based on the rescue mission ... it was more terrified coming down than going up.

This amusing vid comes from the city of Meishan in southern China's Sichuan Province, where the frightened feline got itself in a predicament -- but was saved by a Good Samaritan.

No need to call the fire department ... this man reportedly spotted the striped cat trapped about 10-feet high up into the tree, and fetched himself a ladder.

As you can see ... the cat put a death grip on to the guy's leg once he climbed up to it, and wouldn't let go for anything. It also let out some highly melodramatic meows. Cats, right?

A North Carolina woman who recently went viral for going on vile, racist rants -- and was later arrested for assault -- is now fighting for her life after a bizarre accident involving a fire truck.

Rachel Dawn Ruit was struck by an Asheville Fire Department pickup truck Monday afternoon after stepping out in front of traffic ... according to a witness.

Asheville PD says Ruit is "suffering from life threatening injuries" and is at the hospital in critical condition. The accident is being investigated.

Ruit is, unfortunately, otherwise known for appearing in multiple videos in downtown Asheville spewing racism ... and for her July 4 arrest for allegedly attacking both a woman in a hijab and a Black teenager.

Ruit allegedly ripped off the woman's head covering and grabbed the teenager in the groin. She was arrested and charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct and second degree trespassing.

Before her arrest, Ruit made news after people posted videos of her from June 13 and July 1 going on racist tirades. During the July 1 incident, witnesses claim she tried to attack a child and cops were called several times ... but never showed up.

Some of Joe Exotic's most prized possessions, like his crown and penis pump, are now in Zak Bagans' hands ... and the 'Tiger King' memorabilia is heading to a haunted museum.

Zak was at the original 'Tiger King' zoo, now owned by Jeff Lowe, over the weekend to film an episode of his show, "Ghost Adventures," and he left with a treasure trove of Joe's old things -- a gift from Jeff.

Some of the items in Zak's hilarious -- and possibly haunted -- haul include Joe's infamous jeweled crown, pill bottles, flashy clothing, wedding trinkets, penis pump and Travis Maldonado's glass pipe.

Zak's also heading back to Sin City with the park's original 'Exotic Animal Park' signage, complete with some super cool tiger imagery, and a section of an art mural wall featuring a bullet hole from Travis' suicide.

The memorabilia is the centerpiece of an upcoming 'Tiger King' exhibit at Zak's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas ... and an October "Ghost Adventures" episode will feature ZB's eventful trip to Joe's stomping grounds, which included cadaver dogs searching for human remains.

In the meantime, click through the gallery to see what Joe left behind for Zak.

Here's yet another example of just how crafty bears can be in their never-ending search for human food -- which, if you leave out, WILL attract these beasts almost every time.

Check out this black bear effortlessly breaking his way into a Canadian home in Ontario, opening the front door with its paws and sauntering in like it's nobody's business. Luckily, no one seemed to be in this part of the house ... could've spelled big trouble.

Anyway, it was pretty clear what the creature was after as soon as it was inside -- PIZZA!!! You can see there are three boxes left out on the floor, and sure enough ... the bear here gets to work rummaging through them to see if there's any leftover scraps.

He/she comes up short on any extra pies -- but it just goes to show that even an empty pizza box (which might've been there for who knows how long) can still be detected by a bear.

Black bears are said to have an incredible sense of smell -- about 7 times that of a bloodhound, which is already nearly 1,000x greater than that of a human.

Back to the bear here ... it goes out the same way it came in, but seemed to have some trouble with an extra spring-y door. No worries though -- one good push, and it was on its way.

A gorilla got into a nasty fight with its sibling at a zoo, and as a safety precaution -- docs gave him a coronavirus test ... which they documented in some incredible shots.

This is Shango, a 31-year-old, 433 lb. lowland gorilla who lives at the Miami Zoo -- and earlier this week, he got into a brawl with his brother, Barney ... suffering some injuries in the process. Shango was bitten and scratched up -- so to be safe, they got him 'rona tested.

Looks like a team of vets put Shango under to do the procedure and to also attend to his wounds. As you can see, he's got a deep gash on his hand after apparently being bitten. As far as the COVID test, the ape got the best of the best that's out there ... a nasal swab.

According to the zoo staff, Shango's test came back negative -- but it just goes to show ... animals can contract the virus, which has been a thing zoos have had to grapple with of late. And, of course, seeing how primates are close cousins of ours ... they're susceptible too.

Now, can we talk about how wild it is to see just how big this creature is up close? Absolutely massive -- he takes up the whole table -- and completely majestic all at the same time.

Two kangaroos got into it on camera -- and by the looks of how the bout went ... one of them was Tyson Fury, the other was Deontay Wilder, and one got his ass kicked.

These fully-grown marsupials were going at it in a (sorta) hardcore boxing match down on a farm in Australia -- and while they both seemed to be in the same weight class and have the about the same reach, one of the 'roos certainly had the upper hand ... and the upper jab!

For funsies, let's just call these fellas Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa (from Part I), where the former was delivering a serious beat-down, but the Stallion just kept coming back for more.

That's kind of what's happening here -- the more proficient boxer of the kangaroos gets tons of clean hits in ... and a few hard kicks to the body too, while balancing on its sturdy tail. Apparently, anything goes in the animal kingdom -- it's almost like a UFC Octagon out there.

It's also just wild to see these creatures in action, 'cause they clearly do this type of thing all the time, and they look almost human-like as they rumble.

Victoria Justice just got a bold marriage proposal from someone who wanted to tell the world they are hopelessly in love with her ... thing is, she has no idea who's behind it!

The actress was the recipient of a super romantic banner that was being dragged above Santa Monica -- with the help of an airplane -- with the message ... "I LOVE YOU VICTORIA JUSTICE ❤️ WILL YOU MARRY ME?"

Whoever did this paid a pretty penny -- planes ain't cheap. Thing is ... a rep for Victoria says she's in no position to accept the proposal for all sorts of reasons. First, she's not dating anyone seriously and she's definitely NOT engaged. And, there's this ... she has no idea who the heck is in love with her!!!

We're told the "Zoey 101" star would like to know -- if only as a matter of  -- who admires her to the brink of marriage.

Whoever it is ... they wanted to make sure she saw it, because the banner flew over the beaches of Santa Monica 5 times.

While Victoria's secret admirer struck out this time ... sounds like they still have a shot at love. After all, getting a girl's attention is half the battle!!!

If you think Joey Chestnut is ready to wind down his competitive eating career after setting a new hot dog record -- YOU'RE WRONG!!!

The greatest eater in the history on mankind tells TMZ Sports he'll be back ... as long as his doctors give him the green light.

Of course, Chestnut woofed down 75 dogs in 10 mins to set a new world record at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July. He also held the previous record of 74.

But, despite having ZERO rivals who truly pose a threat -- the Michael Jordan of wieners says he's still passionate about his sport.

"Oh my God, I still love it," Chestnut says ... "I love the whole thing, pushing myself, the prep, even the recovery."

"I love knowing I feel like garbage and then the next day I feel better. And now, naturally, I'm ready to go, I'm ready to eat something big."

He adds, "I'm addicted to it and as long as I'm healthy, as long as my doctor keeps saying that I can keep doing it and I'm not hurting myself, you can count me in!"

"I'll be back next year and we'll see where it takes me."

This summer job is the s**t ... a bidet company is offering $10,000 for one lucky person to spend their summer testing a toilet paper alternative, and sharing the journey with all.

Here's the dookie deal ... all ya gotta do to get the dough is be able to poo, analyze and document your daily bowel movements, and share your fecal findings on social media.

The $10,000 gig comes with an exec title -- Vice President of Fecal Matter -- that'll definitely stand out on your resume. Now, it's not for everybody ... ya gotta have at least 21 years on-the-job John experience, and a very open-bathroom-door policy.

The 3-month consulting position is with TUSHY, which fashions itself as a modern bathroom brand revolutionizing the way people poop with different kinds of bidets.

All applicants must submit a video and, we gotta say ... good luck matching Ashley K.'s skills. Still, we're told applications are already pouring in ahead of the company's July 10 deadline. Makes sense ... much like opinions, everyone's got one.

It ain't just straight poop, though ... the VP will also be tasked with interviewing others about their toilet habits, testing TUSHY products against the competition, and prodeuce-ing video content for social media.

Good luck and remember, ya gotta be #1 to talk ✌🏽!!!