Weird News

Marco Rubio is worried as hell about unidentified flying objects buzzing over military bases and he's on board with the government getting to the bottom of it.

We got the U.S. Senator from Florida out Monday at Reagan National Airport and asked him about UFOs and aliens. Our intent was a lighthearted convo, but Rubio got dead-ass serious about the potential danger the U.S. faces from unidentified aircraft flying over our military installations.

His argument's simple ... we don't know what's flying above our military bases -- or our not-so-friendly skies, for that matter -- and his colleagues on the Senate Committee on Intelligence need to figure it out because "maybe it's another country, and that would be bad news too."

Luckily for us humans ... the Pentagon's on it after forming a new task force last August to investigate UFOs spotted by U.S. military aircraft. Remember, the Pentagon had already declassified UFO videos they describe as "unexplained aerial phenomena."

And, just last month, an American Airlines pilot flying over New Mexico radioed saying, "I hate to say this, but it looked like a long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise-missile type of thing. Moving really fast and went right over the top of us." The FAA later refuted the pilot's sighting ... but it sure makes ya wonder as sightings keep happening.

Stanley the Giraffe -- the crown jewel of Malibu Wine Safaris -- now sits in his pen as Exhibit A ... because authorities claim his owners are breaking the law by having him there.

ABC7 reports the CEO of MWS, Dakota Semler, and her pops, Ron, have been charged in connection to an investigation that allegedly revealed Stanley -- and perhaps other wild animals roaming around -- have been flying under the radar without the necessary paperwork to warrant their stay. The place is packed with animals you might see at a zoo.

They were reportedly informed by the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife that the Semlers never got the necessary licenses to house such exotic creatures -- like giraffes, zebras, etc. -- and as such, they've been accused of falsifying records to obtain permits to that effect.

As a result, Dakota -- who owns/runs the place -- has reportedly been charged with maintaining an animal facility or a wild animal without a license. Her dad -- who apparently owns Stanley himself -- has reportedly been charged with providing false info on his application for Stanley's restricted species permit with the CDFW. Both pled not guilty.

As for Stanley, Fish and Wildlife say he was "seized in place" -- meaning they're not taking him to any station for booking or processing ... ya know, 'cause he's like 18 feet tall. And as to the question of how the hell this didn't come to law enforcement's attention earlier -- they're claiming they relied on the word of the Semlers when they filled out their docs.

Here's the kicker ... ABC7 suggests that Malibu Wine Safaris might've been newly put under a microscope because of pissed-off would-be customers -- several of whom apparently complained about not getting refunded during the pandemic ... or not refunded fast enough.

So, because they upset their loyal base -- ABC7 says it started digging in, which might've triggered the investigation and subsequent charges. Oh, the irony ...

As you may or may not know ... Stanley is a fan fave at the sprawling attraction at Saddlerock Ranch -- tons of celebs have stopped by over the years and posed for selfies with Stan, who's always happy to nibble on someone's hair ... preferably some celery or lettuce.

Believe it or not, it's already been one year since Joe Exotic was unleashed on the world ... and the man himself is dropping a footwear collection from behind bars to celebrate.

The shoes are part of Joe's "Revenge" collection with streetwear brand Odaingerous ... and they come with all the usual Exotic flair, like animal print, gold and Italian leather.

Oh, and there's also a thinly veiled dig at Joe's nemesis, Carole Baskin. Would you expect anything less?!?

As you can see, Joe's coming in hot with 3 different shoes ... there's the Dapper Don Trainer with its wedge heel and padded straps, plus a low-top Dapper Don sneaker and the pièce de résistance, a traditional tennis shoe dubbed the Revenge Exotic 1.

The Dapper Dons are a play on Carole's missing husband, Don Lewis, and the Revenge Exotic 1 is covered in gold and 3 types of animal prints. Joe's hawking the kicks at $219, $249 and $252, and they all come in a tiger print box.

The shoes drop online Saturday, the one-year anniversary of the 'Tiger King' premiere on Netflix.

Joe's REVENGE collection has already released an underwear line and a fashion line ... and each drop has sold out immediately.

Well, this bites for a NY man -- not as much as his odd pets -- but he's been convicted of trafficking sharks, which he kept in an above-ground pool in his backyard!!! Again, this is NY, not FL.

NY Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday the conviction of Joshua Seguine ... who pled guilty to illegal commercialization of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and wildlife with intent to sell 7 sandbar sharks ... which is a protected species in NY state.

Seguine was fined $5,000. Authorities say they first got whiff of all this in July 2017 after he was busted for driving without a license in Georgia, and cops found 5 undersized sharks in a large tank in the back of his truck.

Authorities say Seguine admitted he was transporting the sharks to NY to sell them. He also admitted to possessing live sharks at his house. The AG's Office says authorities later discovered Seguine operated the website MonsterFishKeepers.com and conducted his biz under the name Aquatic Apex Life LLC.

When authorities served a search warrant at his NY home they found 7 live sharks in his backyard pool. They also found 2 dead leopard sharks, one dead hammerhead shark and the snout of a smalltooth sawfish ... also an endangered species.

The stars of Brazil's 2021 Miss Bumbum competition are trying to draw attention to the importance of getting vaccinated ... by drawing even more attention to their assets.

The curvy candidates have tattooed their booties with "vaccinate here" as part of an initiative put in place by the organization running the contest.

Brazil, much like the U.S., has been a hot spot for COVID-19 cases and deaths ... along with accompanying protests of lockdowns and coronavirus policies.

So, the women vying for the title of Brazil's most beautiful butt are urging fans to get their shots, with one candidate saying, "We want our vaccine in the butt ... we want everyone to be vaccinated."

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the popular beauty contest -- which is, interestingly, still happening amid the pandemic -- with 27 contestants to start.

The only thing Tom Brady might hate more than losing ... BANANA TIPS!!

The 43-year-old NFL superstar was showing off his smoothie skills on TikTok when it came time to add the ingredients.

Blueberries. Protein powder. Pumpkin seeds. Banana.

Great, sounds delicious and healthy. No surprise there.

But, when TB12 prepped the banana for the blender, he ripped off both ends of the fruit like a psychopath -- and declared that he won't eat banana tips!

So, are we ALL off banana tips now?

Look, Tom's got some weird eating habits (avocado ice cream, anyone?) ... but his diet seems to be effective. You know anyone else winning Super Bowls at 43?

Cubs, Diamondbacks ... and fighting geese?!

An MLB spring training game featured all of the above on Sunday ... and the video from the diamond was wild!!

During Chicago's tilt with Arizona at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz. ... some geese decided to crash the party in the outfield, and one of the birds bit the hell out of another!!

Check out footage the Diamondbacks' broadcast team shot ... you can see a goose flew at another and ripped feathers straight out of its backside.

Later in the game, a goose plopped down next to Cubs outfielder Rafael Ortega ... and, given the events that had taken place earlier, you can tell the dude wasn't exactly thrilled to have the bird so close to him!!

Of course, spring training and uninvited feathered friends aren't exactly new ... remember when Randy Johnson drilled a dove with a fastball in 2001??

Jack Dorsey is hawking the very first tweet ever -- being his, of course -- to anybody who wants exclusive digital rights ... and people are already willing to pay millions for it.

The Twitter CEO posted a link Saturday to a site called Valuables By Cent, where folks can buy/sell authenticated tweets with their autograph. Jack, too, was putting a tweet up for auction ... his own from 2006, when he wrote ... "just setting up my twttr." It's the tweet that kicked off every other tweet thereafter, so it's historic -- and the bids bear that out.

At the moment, the highest offer for ownership of his tweet sits at $2.5 MILLION -- courtesy of Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi ... who's been in a bidding war of sorts with another tech entrepreneur in the crypto world, Justin Sun, who was upping his price exponentially.

Sun seems to have started at $500k, and then incrementally upped it to $2 mil, but it looks like Estavi swooped in with $500k more ... there haven't been any further offers since. Per Cent's rules, if anyone wants to outbid Estavi -- they'll have to throw down $2.75 million.

If Jack's tweet sells at this amount ... it would follow suit with tons of other online transactions that have flown off virtual shelves at eye-popping values among influencers, artists and sports leagues, like the NBA ... which has been dabbling in this for a couple of years.

For instance, you can actually buy NBA highlight reels and awesome moments from games through NBA Top Shot ... which tends to sell these "moments" in packs. Some of the more elite highlights -- like some of LeBron's and Zion's -- have sold for upwards of $200k!

Might sound nutty, but selling digital assets like this is a thing ... which they call NFTs (non-fungible tokens). They're essentially one-of-a-kind collector's items that are recorded on a blockchain network -- the same system that supports and tracks crypto -- and which aren't interchangeable, unlike something like Bitcoin, which can be swapped back and forth.

Elon Musk founding his City of Starbase, Texas is getting support from at least one local official ... who says the move could lead to a serious job and tourism boom.

Joey Lopez, one of four elected commissioners for Cameron County, tells TMZ ... Elon's SpaceX has already made an impact -- currently known as the unincorporated area of Boca Chica Village -- by attracting tourists who come watch rocket launches.

Hopefully, the rockets will do better than the one Wednesday ... an unmanned test flight of a SpaceX rocket Elon hoped would go to Mars exploded after trying to stick a clean landing at the South Texas landing facility.

Lopez says SpaceX has also created jobs in the area. He says in June of 2020 there were 600 county residents who worked for SpaceX. That number's swelled to as high as 1,800 ... according to Lopez.

And, if Elon starts his own city ... Lopez sees that number skyrocketing. #PunIntended.

What's more ... Lopez says Elon's already ingrained himself in the community ... like recently helping save sea turtles during Texas' recent deadly winter storm. He also provided generators that helped maintain water pressure in two Cameron County towns.

As we reported ... a county judge has already said Elon must comply with all state laws if he wants to own a piece of Texas. Lopez says Elon has a lot of work to do if he wants Boca Chica Village Starbase to become a self-sufficient city.

Kygo is going all out to perform a virtual concert from the top of a snow-capped mountain in Scandinavia -- a helicopter dropped off a piano at the summit!!!

Ya gotta see the video of the unique delivery ... the piano was hanging by straps from the chopper as it came in for a landing Thursday ... next to Kygo, who was surrounded by pyrotechnics while spinning tunes. Talk about production value.

The Norwegian DJ reportedly dropped over six figures of his own money to make this virtual concert happen ... it's not exactly cheap to get a piano flown to the top of Norway’s Sunnmore Alps.

Kygo's fans might recognize the glass piano ... it's the same one he used during his "Kids In Love" tour. You can see it in action (if you bought a ticket) when the online show begins at 6 PM PT.

The mountain's getting a lot of love from Hollywood these days too ... it was a filming location for Tom Cruise's upcoming "Mission: Impossible 7."

Elon Musk hasn't taken over the world yet but, for now, he'll settle on taking over a piece of Texas ... 'cause he approached officials about founding his own city and calling it Starbase.

The Tesla chief and SpaceX honcho is so serious ... he hit up Cameron County, Texas officials about incorporating the City of Starbase, Texas. It's familiar territory for him ... SpaceX has a private launch site and rocket production facility there.

The idea is ...the rocket man will expand the unincorporated region currently known as Boca Chica Village. His plans aren't all that far-fetched ... county judge Eddie Treviño, Jr. has now weighed in, saying, "If SpaceX and Elon Musk would like to pursue down this path, they must abide by all state incorporation statutes. Cameron County will process any appropriate petitions in conformity with applicable law."

That's politics talk for ... go for it, but you'll play by our rules. Elon's ambitions know no bounds. He previously tweeted about founding Starbase ... adding the town's leader "shall be The Doge" ... a nod to the cryptocurrency DogeCoin he backed last month.

Elon's slowly but surely making his mark in the Lone Star State. For starters, he said last December he was moving from California to Texas ... and SpaceX has other facilities in Brownsville and McGregor.

What's more ... his company reportedly wants to break ground on a new manufacturing facility in Austin ... and his other company, The Boring Company, went on a hiring spree in the Austin area back in November.

A Youngstown State football official has just been booted from the sidelines for the foreseeable future ... after he knocked an opposing player to the ground with his shoulder.

The scene was pretty wild ... during YSU's game against the University of Northern Iowa on Saturday -- Panthers star receiver Quan Hampton was speeding toward the YSU sideline when Director of Player Personnel Tim Johnson appeared to throw himself at the guy.

Hampton took Johnson's shoulder at full speed ... and tumbled to the ground awkwardly -- clearly fortunate to not suffer any serious injures.

FYI -- Johnson is a BIG man (6'0, 245 lbs) with a history of tossing around football players ... he was a former All-American linebacker at YSU who played in the NFL and was later inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2010.

You can see in the replay of the check, Hampton was clearly disturbed by Johnson's actions ... and pointed him out to refs immediately after hitting the ground.

Despite no penalty called, YSU launched an investigation into the incident ... and on Monday, the school announced it was banning Johnson from the sidelines for the rest of the spring football season.

The school also said Johnson -- who's in his first year on the YSU football staff -- had accepted the punishment.

"I apologize to UNI, Youngstown State, the Missouri Valley Football Conference and our community for what occurred on Saturday," Johnson said.

Coming to you live from CPAC 2021, we present ... Flavor Flav and Chuck D of Public Enemy!!! Er, sorry -- nope, it's actually Roger Stone and MC TRUMPISTHECHOSENONE.

Check out this bizarre scene that was captured Saturday at the annual conservative convention -- where a recently-pardoned Stone was spotted getting his groove and hype man on next to a rapper who was putting on a song and dance, which appears to be an original.

No word on the name of the song, but based on what sounds like the chorus ... it could be "Feds Did a Sweep." There's more talk of Trump than the feds though ... a lot more.

Listen to this dude's lyrics -- which Stone seems to LOVE as he bobs back and forth to the beat. The guy's talking about "Trump 2021" and "running it back," while also touching on the Capitol insurrection ... calling those guys "patriots," and name-dropping Michael Flynn too.

Then comes the bridge ... "Who won? Trump won! Who won? Trump won! Watermark the baddest, 45 the chosen one." There's more, but we'll just let you listen for yourself.

Of course, there's also the Rambo Trump-themed monster truck behind them ... which is another convo. And, when Stone flashes the Nixon double peace sign, it officially dives into parody.

An American Airlines pilot sounded pretty flummoxed by a "long, cylindrical object" zooming over his plane in New Mexico airspace -- ya know, not far from Roswell -- and now it's on FBI's plate.

The plane was traveling from Cincinnati to Phoenix Sunday afternoon when the flight crew spotted a strange, fast-moving object flying above them. The pilot called it in, first asking ... "Do you have any targets up here?"

He added ... "I hate to say this, but it looked like a long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise-missile type of thing. Moving really fast and went right over the top of us."

So, what the heck was it? If the FBI knows, it's not telling. FBI Spokesperson Frank Fisher tells TMZ ... the agency's "aware of the reported incident."

The reason the pilot asked about targets isn't necessarily a Roswell thing. They were flying near the Army's White Sands Missile Range ... however, the military's denied the object was one of theirs.

Fisher adds, "While our policy is to neither confirm nor deny investigations, the FBI works continuously with our federal, state, local, and tribal partners to share intelligence and protect the public."

Hmm ... the truth is out there. 🤔

The pesky murder hornets that made it to North America last year are NOT all dead and gone -- in fact, a battle's being waged to contain the danger.

We spoke to renowned Washington state beekeeper Ted McFall Tuesday on "TMZ Live" about the new Discovery Channel documentary, "Attack of the Murder Hornets." He says enough have made it over here now to the point that different nests have developed.

Pros like Ted are addressing the crisis now ... however, he fears if they don't get it under control quickly, the U.S. honeybee population could be in serious jeopardy -- which eventually impacts our food supply too.

You might not realize it, but honeybees are a HUGE part of what keeps a lot of our crops growing at the rate they do. Murder hornets can easily wipe out colonies of bees, and that's why they're such a menace.

You'll recall, scientists in Washington state set out on a weeks-long mission late last year to snatch up as many murder hornets as they could find in one woodsy section of Washington, right on the Canadian border.

They thought they'd gotten them all in that one fell swoop, but had to go back later to retrieve a lot more of these hornets ... including hundreds of queens!

Turns out, those weren't the only ones out there -- and now, a black (and yellow) cloud hangs over the area.

Here's a verrrry good girl with a little extra pep in her steps ... she was born with 6 legs but veterinarians say the pooch is miraculously beating the odds.

This newborn Aussie-border collie mix named Miracle but who also goes by Skipper was born in Oklahoma City and taken to a vet after she was rejected by her mom. Vets at Neel Veterinary Hospital say she's nothing short of a miracle because she's survived longer than expected. The pup was 4 days old at the time the pic was taken.

And get this ... the vets say Skipper has duplicate organs basically from her waist down, and they're all functioning. There's no published research showing another dog with this condition born alive.

Skipper has congenital conjoining disorders called ... monocephalus dipygus and monocephalus rachipagus dibrachius tetrapus ... that's science talk for 1 head and chest cavity but 2 pelvic regions, 2 lower urinary tracts, 2 reproductive systems, 2 tails and 6 legs, among other things.

All things considered ... Skipper does have some positive signs going for her. The vets say her organs appear to be in great condition and she's peeing and pooping like a normal doggy, She's also very strong and growing appropriately so far.