Dateline: VirginiaA mysterious man wearing a TV on his head left vintage TV sets on the porches of more than 50 homes in Virginia last week. NBC News reports that residents of Henrico County, Va., woke last Sunday to find the old TV sets on their porches. The unknown prankster meticulously positioned each set so they faced the houses’ front doors. The homeowners were at a loss until doorbell camera footage from one of the homes was discovered that showed a man wearing a blue jumpsuit and a hollowed-out TV over his head placing an old-fashioned TV on a porch. Before leaving, the man can be seen waving at the camera. Police were alerted to the incident, but officials say the sets don’t seem to have been left maliciously. Lt. Matt Pecka of the Henrico Police Department told reporters that the incident appears to have been isolated and did not threaten the health of any individual. Further investigation has led authorities to believe there were at least two individuals involved in the delivery. It reportedly took police and workers from the the county’s solid waste division an hour to pick up 52 TVs that had been left. Some residents choose to keep the devices. According to police, a similar incident happened in a neighboring community last August, although more TV sets were left this time.Dateline: AustraliaTwo farmers were arrested in Australia last week for smuggling boar semen in shampoo bottles. According to ABC News in Australia, Torben Soerensen and Henning Laue have been found guilty of breaching quarantine and biosecurity laws. The two men were caught smuggling illegal boar semen from Denmark into Australia for artificial insemination. They worked for GD Pork, a pork manufacturing company that officials say used illegally imported semen from Danish boars between 2009 and 2017. Danish pigs are more fertile than those found in Australia, but officials say introducing a foreign breed into the population can pose a health threat. According to Soerensen’s lawyer, his client had only been the “front man” of the criminal operation. He claimed the masterminds were Danish investors in GD Pork’s parent company, Pork Australia ApS. The lawyer said most of the smuggling operations were carried out by Pork Australia ApS shareholder Henrik Enderlein. Soerensen has been sentenced to three years in prison, while Laue was only handed a two-year sentence. The presiding judge said the men were “influenced to offend” by “persuasive” overseas investors. GD Pork was fined $500,000, however the company is currently in liquidation. Enderlein and Pork Australia ApS are based in Denmark and thus outside the reach of Australian law.Dateline: RomaniaTwo men have developed a fully functional flying saucer. Vice reports that Romanian engineer Razvan Sabie and aerodynamicist Iosif Taposu say that the design of their unique aircraft was not based on traditional UFOs. They say they were attempting to mimic the back cross-section of a “Dolphin” type airfoil. But the All-Directional Flying Object, or ADIFO, looks very much like two pie tins glued together at the seams, reminding those who have seen it of a classic flying saucer straight out of a 1950s science fiction movie. “The aerodynamics behind this aircraft is the result of more than two decades of work and is very well reasoned in hundreds of pages and confirmed by computer simulations and wind tunnel tests,” Sabie told reporters. The craft utilizes four ducted fans to accomplish takeoffs, landing and “slow speed maneuvers.” Horizontal thrust is achieved with the help of two jet engines located at the rear of the aircraft. Lateral thrust nozzles mounted on the sides of the ADIFO allow it to move along any lateral vector and rotate quickly while in flight. The vehicle’s design reduces shock waves on its surface, mitigating sonic booms and enhancing its stealth capabilities. Sabie and Taposu have only developed a 4-foot operational prototype of the ADIFO, but Sabie says a full-scale model would represent “a new and revolutionary flight paradigm.”Dateline: United KingdomPolice in Wales were trolled online after warning people not to troll a wanted man over his receding hairline. According to Metro, a mugshot of Jermaine Taylor, from Newport, Wales, was published on Gwent Police’s Facebook page, attracting over 76,000 comments. The majority of the comments were reportedly insults concerning Taylor’s receding hairline. Although the post has since been deleted, it was reported that Facebook user Matt Price commented: “Push his release date back further than his hairline, that should teach him.” Lea Hook said: “He was last seen in town; police are combing the area,” and Lawrie Hillman said: “He’s vanished into thin hair.” In a subsequent comment, the police said, “Please remember that harassing, threatening and abusing people on social media can be against the law. Our advice is to be as careful on social media as you would in any other form of communication. If you say something about someone which is grossly offensive or is of an indecent, obscene or menacing character, then you could be investigated by the police.” The comment was quickly mocked by hundreds. “Can’t work out what’s thinner. This guy’s hair or Gwent police’s skin?” wrote Daniel Knox-Hewson.
Compiled by Joshua Lee. Email your weird news to josh@alibi.com.
