Offbeat News

Crews responding to a trailer fire in southern Utah had another factor to contend with: snakes.

A suburban Chicago police officer tasered a man 11 times while he was having a diabetic seizure, says a lawsuit (.PDF) filed in a federal court in Chicago. The policeman tasered the victim because accidentally lashed out and hit the officer during his seizure.

Northwest Airlines must feel snakebit. Not only was it the airline involved in the Christmas Day incident involving Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian national, that almost resulted in Flight 253 being taken down over Detroit, it was also the "victim" of a false alarm a few days later over intestinal distress. On New Year's day, there was yet another NWA false alarm.

Two members of the Washington Wizards, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other during a Christmas Eve locker room argument over a gambling debt. It had already been reported previously that Arenas kept a gun in his locker, albeit unloaded. One can only assume that both he and Crittenton slipped a clip into their guns before drawing them.

A Wyoming llama owner says he fatally shot a mountain lion that had killed at least one of his animals.

As we anticipate bring you another year of Weird Asia News, we take a moment to highlight our Top 10 Weirdest Asian News Stories from 2009.

Social scientist Joshua B. Buhs, author of "Bigfoot: The Life and Times of a Legend" writes Cryptomundo about a connection 'tenuous and racist' between Michael Jackson and the world of cryptozoology.

[You just can't make stuff like this up. -ed.]

The Marines found the bone as they scraped a shallow trench. Long, dry and unmistakably once part of a human leg, it was followed by others.

“The local people say this is a cursed place,” he said. “You will definitely see weird-ass lights up here at night.”

Others in the outgoing unit had reported odd sounds. “It is weird what you hear and don’t hear around here,” he added.

Each successive detachment that guards the Rock appears to add its own layer to the legend, which has spread through the Marine units pushing into southern Helmand.

The carcass resembles that of a domestic cat, but with several noticeable differences. The animal is described as “sabertoothed” because it’s incisor teeth are elongated into fangs, the front limbs of the creature are also longer than an ordinary cat’s legs and appear to have an extra joint giving the appearance of large feet. Even more bizarrely the carcass reveals evidence of possible wings protruding from the animal’s back.

Deputies in southeastern Tennessee gave chase after seeing a truck dragging a stolen soda machine.

A Nebraska trooper found an unexpected holiday present at the end of a police chase.

In its annual effort to protect the Queen's English, a Michigan university is insisting that "shovel ready" be buried, "tweet" be tossed and all "czars" be banished.

Lake Superior State University (LSSU) unleashed its 35th annual List of Banished Words, those words it wishes to see disappear from the English language. Most interesting this year are the number of technology-based words it has decided to "unfriend."

A jab at the woes of the nation's banks has been named the top tall tale of 2009.

(CNN) -- Investigators recovered the remains of more than 500 animals after executing a search warrant Wednesday at a home in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to the city's chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

It's possible drugs just might have been a factor in a Southern California rampage that involved a man allegedly jumping out of a third-story window, killing a dog with his bare hands and then pouring coffee all over himself after running naked through a tennis club, say authorities.

Berlin Zoo presented its most recently born piglets on Wednesday. According to German tradition, the birth of this particular breed of pig in mid-winter means great luck for the new year.

Craig "Lazie" Lynch, 28, escaped from the minimum-security Hollesley Bay Prison near the village of Woodbridge in southern England three months ago. Since then, he's been mocking police via Facebook, and he's also managed to gain a huge number of Facebook "fans." His Facebook photo isn't exactly family-friendly, so I had to modify it some, by the way.

Authorities say a Florida man who called 911 claiming he'd been beaten and shot at was hoping the tale would get him a ride to a bar.

"I'd give my life right now if I could bring this guy back," MacLeod says in his auctioneer's staccato, his gray hair slicked back in a '50s style.