Michael Dwayne Johnson has a strange method for picking out produce — allegedly.
The Virginia man was arrested this week after police say he dropped his pants inside a Giant Food grocery store and rubbed several pieces of produce onto his bare butt. As reported, witnesses say they saw Johnson picking up fruit from the shelf, rubbing it onto his backside, and then putting it back onto a pallet.
Police were called to the store and Johnson was apprehended. There was no clear motive for the man’s behavior during the incident.
The incident was a costly one for the grocery store, as the report noted that they had to destroy several pallets of produce for fear that they were contaminated. The potentially deadly bacteria E. coli is spread through contact with human feces, and the store chose to destroy the fruit and vegetables rather than risk potential contamination for customers.

The reason for the sudden closure two weeks ago of New Mexico’s Sunspot Solar Observatory has been revealed – sort of – and, perhaps disappointingly, it wasn’t because of aliens. At least, that’s what they want you to believe…
As previously reported by the , on September 6 the FBI rolled into Sunspot, New Mexico – by some accounts in a Blackhawk helicopter – and ordered everyone out of the solar observatory there. What’s more, a nearby post office and a dozen or so area homes were evacuated as well.
And then there was naught but silence. The FBI would neither confirm nor deny its involvement. The scientific consortium that managed the telescope wouldn’t say anything beyond that it was a “security issue.” An Albuquerque Journal reporter tried to ask the sheriff, but the phone mysteriously cut out while the sheriff was mid-sentence (not that he knew anything anyway).

The mystery of why the Sunspot Solar Observatory closed down suddenly a couple of weeks ago is getting deeper and deeper, as officials from the New Mexico telescope insist that it wasn’t aliens.
As previously reported by the , ten days ago (Thursday, September 6, to be exact), the FBI swooped into a small New Mexico town – by some accounts in a Blackhawk helicopter – and ordered everyone out of the building. Also evacuated were residents of a dozen or so area homes, as well as the nearby post office.
Now nearly two weeks on, nobody is talking. The scientific consortium that administers the telescope has been tight-lipped, the FBI isn’t saying, and when an Albuquerque Journal reporter tried to talk to the Otero County Sheriff about it, the phone went wonky and cut out while the sheriff was in mid-sentence.

The tourist attraction of Uranus, Missouri — located in the rural area of Pulaski County — has a new newspaper with a name that every 12-year-old boy in the nation would appreciate — the Uranus Examiner.
The independent newspaper was launched this week after media conglomerate GateHouse Media purchased the local newspaper, the Daily Guide, and announced it was closing it down. As the reported, an employee for the soon-to-be-shuttered newspaper said she wanted to start a “fun” alternative that would promote the small town packed with tourist attractions for travelers along Route 66.
The end result was the Uranus Examiner, which the Associated Press pointed out is pronounced just as any schoolboy would expect.
The alternative comes as GateHouse Media has been closing papers across Missouri, the Associated Press reported. Just two weeks before announcing that the Daily Guide was shutting down, the company also closed the Carthage Press, with a nearby paper picking up its coverage area.

Players from Flamengo and Vasco da Gama came to the rescue of an ambulance on Saturday after the vehicle, which was transporting an injured player to hospital, refused to start.

The Sunspot Solar Observatory in New Mexico was shut down last week under mysterious circumstances – along with the town post office and several area homes – and going on 10 days later there are still no answers. In addition to all of the wild conspiracy theories about aliens and government cover-ups, so more reasoned possible explanations have started to trickle in.
As previously reported by the , on Thursday, September 6, FBI agents swooped into the remote Mexico town, by some accounts in a Blackhawk helicopter and ordered everyone out. The observatory was evacuated, a nearby post office was evacuated, even a dozen or so homes in the area were evacuated. And no one – not the FBI, not the academic consortium that manages the observatory – is saying why. Even local law enforcement has been left in the dark.
So what are the theories?
Aliens

Back in the day, if you needed a nap between classes you had to head back to your dorm or apartment, but the University of Maryland is providing an option for those who need a quick recharge between classes or while studying at the library. University of Maryland, located in College Park, Maryland just outside of Washington, D.C. has installed sleeping pods or napping pods in the McKeldin Library for the convenience of students who live on campus and those who commute in order to boost personal productivity.
The local affiliate said that the pods, at $22k a pop were installed in the library to provide 20-minute naps for students who need to recharge while on the go. Each pod includes a reclining chair (think the seats in first class for an international flight), a privacy visor which can be moved and customize for your needs, speakers for music, and a twenty-minute timer that triggers a “sunrise” feature to gradually wake you up.

Reading, Pennsylvania man Nathan Matthias had a rather unusual reason for drunkenly firing a shotgun while inside his apartment — he allegedly thought that he saw two clowns invading his apartment and causing a ruckus by running around the house.
According to the , the 35-year-old Matthias was given a sentence of 22 months to five years in state prison on Monday, close to two years after the incident in question took place. While police were not able to find any clowns running around Matthias’ second-floor apartment in December 2016, he was found to have placed the life of one of his first-floor neighbors in danger through his alleged actions.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) swooped into a New Mexico town unannounced and shut down an observatory last week, and to this day no one knows why. So of course, conspiracy theorists have concluded that it has something to do with aliens.
As reports, last Thursday was just a normal day at the the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot – that is, until the FBI showed up, by some accounts in a Blackhawk helicopter, and ordered everyone out. Scientists, technicians, clerical workers, even the janitor were told to pack up and leave.
Otero County Sheriff Benny House said that workers were terrified and called local law enforcement to keep things from getting out of hand.
“Some folks that work at the laboratory called us, asked us if we could send a deputy to stand by while they were evacuating. All the employees were packing up and leaving.”

A shocking discovery was made when a dead rat was found in a bowl of soup by a pregnant woman who was in the process of consuming it. The popular hotpot restaurant chain called Xiabu Xiabu in eastern China is said to have lost $190 million after the story — and the photos corroborating it — hit social media.
reported that the incident that happened last Thursday prompted the shut down of the restaurant. An investigation has been launched. The patrons, Mr. Ma and his family, were having dinner at the hotpot chain in Shandong province. His pregnant wife had taken a few bites of the hot soup and then discovered the dead rat. Once photos of the boiled rodent hit the internet, they quickly spread.

China's crackdown on online rumor-mongers and fraud has snared a fresh target - a 17-year-old junior high school dropout who pretended to be a billionaire, gave himself fake titles and posted Photoshopped pictures of himself with world leaders.

A grocery store employee is facing felony charges for allegedly loving ham a little too much.
Police in Ohio have charged a deli employee of a Giant Eagle grocery store for allegedly stealing $9,200 worth of sliced ham at her store. As the reported, the woman has worked at the store for eight years and had allegedly been stealing the ham only a little bit at a time.
“The store’s loss prevention manager received a tip that an employee had been eating three to five slices of ham nearly every day over eight years,” the report noted. “Authorities say she also sometimes ate salami.”
The bits of ham added up. Authorities estimate that over the course of her employment, the woman had eaten close to $9,000 worth of the deli meat, leading to felony charges.

There are many things that President Donald Trump and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh have in common. So far, the world knows they share a lot of the same far-right political leanings on the manner in which they interpret the law. They have both been very controversial at times, and neither is polling very well at the moment, based on public approval ratings offered up by .
One other thing they share is a love for ketchup that transcends the traditional role of the condiment, using it to garnish foods in a manner that described as creating a “culinary abomination.”

A wealthy British couple saved sperm from their son days after he was killed in a motorcycle crash, creating a “designer” grandson to serve as heir and setting off an ethical controversy.
The incident was recounted by the , which noted that the couple had to bypass strict laws in the U.K. to have their grandchild in the United States by using donor eggs and a surrogate. The couple reportedly used “gender selection techniques” to make sure they had a grandson who could be the heir to their fortune.
The doctor who oversaw the case is world-renowned fertility specialist Dr. David Smotrich, the report noted, and he said that the circumstances around the case were very unusual. The son had not given formal consent to having his sperm extracted, and legal experts said the grandparents may have committed a criminal act, the Daily Mail reported.

A homeless veteran who spent his last $20 to help a stranded New Jersey woman will receive the more than $400,000 which she and her boyfriend raised for him, online fundraiser GoFundMe and his lawyer said, after the couple was accused of spending most of the money on themselves.

Domino’s Pizza in Russia announced an “” at the end of August, offering free pizza for life to anyone brave enough to get a tattoo of their logo “in a prominent place.” Pizza fans were challenged to share a photo of their tattoo to social media with the hashtag , which roughly translates to ‘dominance.’
The deal was slated to run through the end of October. Pizza fans were asked to upload a picture of their Domino’s-related tattoo to Instagram, Facebook, or Vkontakte, a popular Russian social network. This would grant the bearer of the tattoo a certificate entitling them to free pizza for life, which the company defined as 100 pizzas each year for 100 years.

An octogenarian flying trapeze artist, the owner of the world's fastest jet-propelled go-kart and a dog named Feather with a flair for jumping are among the record-breaking stars to win a place in the latest edition of Guinness World Records.

A Florida man was arrested Thursday after allegedly shooting at a home in response to a bad experience at his friend’s family restaurant.
Forty-two-year-old Norman Auvil of Orlando stands charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling, shooting from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of a person, and abuse of a disabled adult, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s office. Auvil allegedly was drinking at home with roommates Jesse Martin and Michael Johnson while discussing a negative review of Johnson’s mother’s restaurant. They used the internet to find the home address of Monica Walley, who had complained about service at the diner.
The three men drove to Walley’s home “with the intent to harm someone (via physical fight) or to cause property damage (slashing tires or similar vandalism),” according to investigators. The report shows the three men were driving a 2013 white Ford Flex registered to Michael Johnson’s girlfriend’s father. Surveillance footage near the scene matched the description of the vehicle.

A truck full of Axe body spray unfortunately met a fiery, explosive end on a Texas interstate on Friday morning. The incident, which transpired in Belton, Texas, at around four in the morning, fortunately did not result in any injuries.
It did, however, cover the area in that all-too-familiar Axe smell.
Considering that the truck was full of cans of Axe body spray, the fire resulted in the cans of deodorant shooting off in all directions as they exploded. The body spray cans ended up scattered across the freeway, resulting in a cleanup job that shut down the highway for eight hours after the accident, according to a report from local news radio station .
Considering the reputation that Axe has garnered over the years, the resulting reactions from the internet were meme-worthy. It did not take long before comments about Axe’s infamous 2006-era commercials started being related to the incident.

In an odd case, a vehicle in Ottawa, Canada, was the source of some suspicious calls to police. The red, windowless van had the words “free candy” emblazoned on the side in what appears to be ducktape. Photos were posted on Facebook and Reddit, and they quickly circulated. While some found it funny, others were genuinely concerned that the van was involved in a kidnapping scheme.
According to the , these fears have no basis in reality. After tracking down the owner, law enforcement determined that the graffiti was not done by the registered owner of the van. It was likely done as a cruel prank on the owner, or placed there as a joke. While the jab is in bad taste, the van and its owner pose no threat to the public.
“At this time, there is no concern for public safety and the investigations are closed,” Ottawa police said in a statement.