Weird News

Elon Musk seems super serious about selling off almost all of his physical possessions and not owning a home ... because he just put a pair of mansions on the market.

The Tesla honcho listed two of his Bel-Air estates for sale Sunday, this only days after telling the world he would shed most of his possessions and own no home.

Elon's seeking a combined $39.5 million for the properties -- listing a massive 16,251-square-foot estate for $30 mil and a home previously owned by the late Gene Wilder for $9.5 million.

And, get this ... Elon's selling without a realtor. The homes are both for sale by owner.

Gene's former haunt is a quirky, unique and charming ranch-style property overlooking the stream, trees and white sand traps of the 13th green and 14th fairway on the Bel-Air County Club Golf Course. The 5-bedroom, 2,756-square-foot home comes with an oval pool and private guest cottage.

Elon says there's one stipulation for buying Willy Wonka's old house ... "It cannot be torn down or lose any of its soul."

Elon's other listing sits on a private knoll overlooking the Bel-Air Country Club, with sweeping views of the city and Pacific ocean. It's a sprawling property with 6-bedrooms, including a master suite with separate dual closets and baths.

The crib is decked out with a family wing, 2-story library, 2-room guest suite, theater, wine cellar, gym, lighted championship tennis court, pool and a fruit orchard!

Plenty of room to park those Teslas in the motor court with a 5-car garage.

Elon ignited the selling spree Friday with a Twitter storm ... announcing, "I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house." Elon says "freedom" is behind the sale.

Musk bought the two properties for about $24 million combined back in 2012 and 2013 ... and the homes are part of a six-house collection Elon owns outside Bel-Air Country Club.

Thank God these grownups got the monkey off this toddler's back -- because a fierce primate was about to make off with them in a wild, would-be kidnapping getaway.

Check out this video that was supposedly taken in an alleyway in Indonesia, where it shows a circus-like, small simian rolling up to a group of kids on a mini motorbike ... which it jumps off of right in front of them, and then attempts to take the runt of the litter.

It's a wild scene -- something out of a damn movie, but this rogue little bastard does his own stunts! -- and it only gets scarier the more you watch. The monkey, at first, loses its grip on the child (who's screaming) but then goes back and starts dragging them by the hand.

The monkey decides yanking the kid by the hair would make for a better escape and tries that -- and it even gets pretty damn far with the child too ... before some reasonable adults FINALLY step in and scare it off. You can hear it shrieking in the distance as it runs off.

Now, for a little context ... the guy who shot this video spoke to a local media outlet, and said owning monkeys is actually illegal out there -- but people still do keep 'em as pets and use them for entertainment 'cause the consequences are so minimal.

If anything, hopefully, this serves as a wake-up call to Indonesian officials -- these hominids don't just play nice and play accordions ... they're literally capable of taking your children.

Monkey see ... monkey abduct!!!

If you thought pirates were just out at sea being bad, you'd be wrong -- Washington state cops say there's piracy happening on their own porches ... by none other than nurses!!! Fake nurses, rather.

This story comes to you from Kennewick, Washington ... where the local police department released photos of two women dressed as nurses that they say are going around to local neighborhoods and STEALING packages off people's doorstep. In broad daylight, no less.

KPD says of the crimes ... "Officers are currently investigating a case of porch piracy and need your help. Both suspects have been reported as stealing packages delivered to Kennewick residences," going on to tell folks to contact 'em if anyone recognizes these gals.

They also make a point to say that they don't believe the perps are actually nurses -- even though they certainly look the part in their full scrubs, gloves and lanyard badges. The department takes a dig at them and gives a shout-out to real nurses, saying ... "The nurses we are fortunate to know only give their time, lives, and take the vitals of their patients (not their property)." And, it gets even weirder.

One of the residents who had a package swooped from her porch says she played back the surveillance tape she had and describes one of the ladies arriving at her front door, only minutes after a FedEx driver dropped off her package, and casually walking off with the goods. Not a batted eye, not a fumble ... all very smooth and calculated.

The glowing dolphin phenomenon is closer to shore than ever before in Southern California's own backyard -- now, we got some coastal dolphins lighting up the night sea!

Check out this video from photographer Patrick Coyne, who -- like last time -- tracked down more flipper swimmers out near Newport Beach, who were lighting up with blue fluorescence underwater in the pitch-black dead of night ... and pretty close to land too.

In the vid, he makes a distinction between these dolphins -- which are bottlenose (AKA coastal) dolphins -- and the ones he caught on camera about a week or so ago, which are just common dolphins, and go further out in the water than these little guys do.

As we've explained ... the way the dolphins can glow the way they do here is attributed to bioluminescence. Basically, phytoplankton in the water have been doused in this, and they make the surrounding water shine bright in the dark. That includes anything swimming in the ocean as well, obviously.

If you ever wondered what 50 Cent would look like as Veep Mike Pence ... well, here you go.

An Australian artist created a Pence-ish looking painting using Fitty as his inspiration and it's, well, interesting.

50 seemed to approve, saying ... "This f***ing guy won’t stop, SMH. I guess i’m not wearing a mask because i’m tested frequently."

He was referring to Pence's ridiculous defiance when he went to the Mayo Clinic this week, ignoring protocol as he was the only one in the room not wearing a mask. He says he was tested, but that really doesn't make a difference. They told him to wear one and he didn't.

The artist who painted the Pence pic -- Lushsux -- has a history with 50. He's turned him into Donald Trump ... something that clearly doesn't sit well with the rapper/mogul.

A deadly species of hornets from across the world has landed in our own backyard -- and the timing couldn't be worse with the coronavirus pandemic in full swing.

An epidemiologist named Chris Looney gave a detailed report to the NYT this weekend, outlining the first sightings of these giant Asian "murder" hornets here in North America -- first spotted in Washington state this past fall -- and the joint effort to eradicate them before they wipe out our bee population, not to mention any human casualties along the way.

The report says the giant Asian hornets tear up entire bee colonies by decapitating their heads with their jaws and feeding the bodies to their young. Up until around Novemer, the so-called "murder hornets" hadn't been seen here in the U.S., but now ... it seems they've arrived, and scientists are working on a way to get rid of them since summer's approaching, when the hornets are expected to be much more active.

The hornets kill people too, BTW -- the Times says up to 50 people get stung by them and die each year ... and their potent venom has been described as hot metal driving through people's skin. A queen hornet can measure up to 2 inches long -- so they're big.

The good news (we think) is that the entomologists and other experts working on this issue have been setting up homemade hornet traps in hopes of keeping the population at bay, and they've also created a grid of where they think the hornets are.

For those they do catch, the scientists plan to use radio-frequency identification tags on the insects and track where they go with the idea being they'll lead them to the nest(s). Then, they could potentially destroy them and take out entire colonies at a time.

Outta the way, glowing dolphins -- surfers are getting in on the action to SoCal's rad, glowing blue waves!!!

Here's some awesome late night video of a wake surfer and his buds enjoying Mother Nature at its finest. The crew headed out Wednesday night, about a mile off shore from Redondo Beach and photographer Bo Bridges captured the neon action.

Bo says it's the best bioluminescence he's seen in about 15 years, and as soon as they headed out you could see why. The water was glowing all around them. The super cool visuals are caused by an annual algae bloom.

There is a bit of a fear factor, though. The surfer went down at one point, which means floating in the pitch dark ocean ... all alone. Well, except for the creatures swimming around that you can now suddenly see glowing.

Think neon "Jaws" -- and that might explain the surfer's reaction at the end of this video.

Tons of surfers -- human and otherwise -- have been riding the bioluminescent waves. Last week, a photog captured a pod of dolphins soaking up the glow.

BTW, Bo chalks up this year's vivid bioluminescence to good timing -- a warm swell of warm coinciding with the algae bloom. He says in the daylight the water actually looks brown and muddy.

Squatty Potty -- the company known for its toilet stools that help ya go #2 -- believes a rival company's engaged in some pretty crappy behavior online ... so it's suing.

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... Squatty -- which counts "Shark Tank" star Lori Greiner as a big-time investor -- claims a company called Step and Go Health is trying to benefit off its well-known name.

Step and Go sells a similar stool that fits around a toilet "to aid in the elimination process."

SP claims the rival biz refers to its toilet stool as "The Step and Go step" on its website, BUT ... uses the phrase "Squatty Toilet Potty Aid" to get a big push on websites like Walmart.com and HomeDepot.com.

Squatty says this phrasing is nearly identical to its registered trademarks for the popular bathroom product, and believes it's a deliberate move by Step and Go to create confusion with customers.

Translation: This bowl ain't big enough for both of us!

SP's asking a judge to order Step and Go to stop infringing on its trademarks ... and fork over any profits it made while doing so.

Let's face it ... there can only be one #1 in the #2 biz.

The Pentagon appears to be confirming what a lot of tinfoil-hatters already suspected -- ALIENS are among us ... or at least they seem to be based on these mysterious videos.

The Department of Defense released three videos this week showing old Navy pilot footage, which captures what the feds describe as "unexplained aerial phenomena" in what looks to be like mini-ish flying saucers zipping around in the sky at incredibly fast speeds.

These clips have actually been out for years -- they were previously leaked to the media and published -- but this is the first time Uncle Sam himself is confirming their authenticity.

As for why now -- when folks are already freaking out over the coronavirus pandemic -- the Pentagon says ... "DOD is releasing the videos in order to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the videos." They add ... what ya see here remains "unidentified."

One of these vids depicts what one of the Navy pilots described as a 40-foot oblong object hovering about 50 feet above the water, and then ascending to flight altitude within seconds. At one point, one of the pilots says the saucer is flying against super heavy wind without a problem, and then you see it stop and rotate mid-air. It's pretty freakin' wild.

You gotta wonder what the green people are thinking watching all this 'rona stuff from above (if, in fact, they're up there). Happy to hear your thoughts, fellas. We're all ears!

A Vallejo official has left his post after he was caught apparently drinking and chucking his cat across the room during a virtual meeting he was conducting with his colleagues.

The guy's name is Chris Platzer and he was one of the city planning commissioners before he tendered his resignation this week ... after a wild Zoom meeting that included shots of him seemingly taking swigs out of a beer, and then hurling his feline in jest.

Check it out ... over the course of the 2 hour-plus meeting -- which was a formal meeting being held to discuss city business on Monday -- you see Platzer taking lots of drinks from a mug he has throughout, and constantly getting up and leaving the meeting several times.

At one point, he picks up the laptop he's using and carries it over to what appears to be his kitchen, where it looks like he opens his fridge and pulls out a green bottle -- which has been reported locally as a beer. Perhaps Heineken -- seems to be that from our POV.

Anyway, at another moment in the meeting ... Platzer's up to talk, and you hear meowing going on in the background. He gets up, brings over his cat and introduces it to everyone ... then throws it off camera, after which you hear a thud. Some of his colleagues laughed.

Toward the end, when everyone had logged off, Platzer's heard calling someone a "bitch," and he supposedly hurled a racial epithet too ... according to the City of Vallejo.

One guy in New York was ready to get his Don Lockwood on -- 'cause he happily did a little number out in the rain, only he had his own twist to it ... skip the clothes, cheeks out.

Watch this very excited man dance butt naked on his roof in the City That Never Sleeps (or gets dressed, apparently), all while a nice drizzle comes down from above. Not to worry -- the dude had some coverage to fend off the wet weather ... above his head, that is. He was rocking an umbrella while doing his routine ... yeah, that'll definitely fend off pneumonia.

Of course, you gotta give this feller his props -- he's out there by himself and seems to be practicing solid social distancing. He's also getting some good exercise going back and forth.

BTW, he's not even close to the first New Yorker to raise the roof in town -- tons of other residents have made it a regular thing when it's nice out. Sun's out, bun's out.

And no, we're not gonna get out of here without mentioning how inspired this is -- and yes, we're naturally talking about the classic 1952 "Singin' in the Rain," in which Gene Kelly's character has his famous scene where he hits the drenched streets with a song and dance.

A popular astrology app that sends daily advice to users appears to be disregarding safety and telling folks to break quarantine -- but it's probably just an algorithm problem.

The company is Co-Star, which will send people horoscopes every day if you sign up ... based on stars and the cosmos and stuff. Someone on Twitter took a screenshot of a recent alert they received from Co-Star, and it definitely doesn't look coronavirus-conscience.

The alert reads, "Your day at a glance. Don't be afraid to find ways to safely see the people you love." They covered their asses by adding in the word "safely," but to be frank, it sure sounds like they're encouraging an in-person reunion here. The vagueness doesn't help.

A full horoscope sent to one Co-Star user says they can either "lie there or you can stand up." Not too bad, but then it gets even weirder, with the prompt reading ... "Your desire to change this month depends on your ability to sharpen yourself against every obstacle. This is a big step for you, who likes to maintain a high level of tension in their relationships. This is your opportunity to practice love that defies societal expectations."

Then comes the nail in the coffin ... "The general theme of your life during this period is to get free by transforming your surroundings. You're allowed to wince at the truth right now."

Now, we should point out ... a lot these horoscope companies send pretty generic nuggets of "truth" to their users, and it's even possible this most recent wave of apparent bad advice is automatically generated and hasn't quite been updated to reflect the pandemic.