The Weirdest News Stories So Far This Decade

The highlight of most mornings is listening to some of the strangest news stories from the past week and having a good chuckle at the expense of some poor criminal. Usually these stories focus on a local individual who did something weird or got caught acting stupidly. But sometimes these stories get blown up to a national level, and the entire country gets to follow the saga with glee.

Occasionally strange news stories are serious, like the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. When the plane mysteriously vanished in 2014, all of America was transfixed, and became obsessed with finding out the truth. Sometimes strange news stories are just downright confusing, like when a Russian city decided that yoga is a cult. More often then not, though, we're left with a lot of questions, like if North Korea can actually create its own time zone.

But most of the time, the stories are so ridiculous that you can't help but laugh. And so far this decade, we've seen a lot of those stories. While a Florida man was vying for most insane headline of the year, the rest of us were avidly waiting for an Octopus to predict the winner of the World Cup. Some of the craziest news stories in the last five years show that although time may have passed, the world is just as strange as ever.

Travelers In Beijing Got Stuck In A 10-Day Traffic Jam

And I thought D.C. traffic was bad. In 2010, construction (coupled with several vehicle collisions) resulted in a 10-day traffic jam in Beijing. Travelers were stranded on the Motorway, and locals came out to sell food and water. Drivers were forced to sleep in or under their cars. The jam affected up to 60 miles of road and is widely considered the worst traffic jam in history. How does that even happen?

A Cobra Escaped From The Bronx Zoo And Live-Tweeted Its Adventure

When an Egyptian cobra escaped in 2012, New Yorkers were actually delighted. That's because while zookeepers were out hunting the animal down, some genius made a Twitter account for it and live-tweeted the snake's adventure through the city. The snake eventually got picked up... but not before it had gained 200,000 Twitter followers.

Icelandic Police Broke Up A Cat Party

Police in Iceland's capital Reykjavik were called to check out reports of cats having a party in a local house. Authorities responded quickly and discovered an unknown number of cats snuggling on a couch. The cats were promptly removed. Some news sources, like The Daily Caller, reported the party was "raucous." The initial news report makes no indication the cats were badly behaved.

Jesus Got An Unfortunate Makeover In Spain

Anyone else remember the hysterically awful attempt to restore a fresco of Jesus Christ? A painting that was almost 100 years old was set to be restored in 2012, but local church officials found out that an elderly parishioner had already taken it upon herself to do the job. And it was horrifying. The fresco, which had been a cultural icon, was damaged beyond repair. The 80-year-old woman behind the botched job did not appreciate the news coverage. The picture swept the Internet, and I'm pretty sure it inspired a few Halloween costumes.

The World Didn't End On 12/21/12

Okay, so that part isn't strange. But the worldwide hype leading up to the supposed apocalypse on Dec. 12, 2012, was kind of insane. People were absolutely convinced the ancient Mayan calendar had predicted the end of the world. The History Channel basically just became the apocalypse channel, and doomsday prepping became a national hobby. There was even a bad disaster movie made based on what would happen. Celebrating Christmas that year was such a relief.

A Clown Terrorized A British Town

In 2013, a clown stalked a British town and terrorized the locals... just by standing there. According to reports, the clown never said anything threatening or did anything wrong. He was just always there. Sightings of the clown started to pick up traction on social media, and he even got his own hashtag: #NorthhamptonClown. The clown's motives were never discovered — though he did allegedly have a Facebook account, where he refuted claims that he had a knife.

A Teletubby Broke Into A House To Steal Chinese Food

A 20-year-old college student in Pennsylvania broke the glass on a door of a friend's house to steal Chinese leftovers out of the fridge. But even odder was that the individual in question was dressed as a bright yellow Teletubby. Residents of the house called the police to report the invasion, which honestly sounds like it was ripped right out of my nightmares. (Also, why yellow?)

Russia Sent Geckos To Space To Have Sex

And the poor geckos never came back. In 2014, Russian scientists sent four lady geckos and one male gecko into space to see how sexual reproduction works when species are off Earth. But then they lost contact with the geckos, which caused British comedian John Oliver to lead a passionate campaign to bring the sex geckos home. The good news is the Russians did find them! But the bad news is that they died upon reentering the atmosphere. So no one really knows what intergalactic sex is like (we think).

Fox News Live-Broadcasted A Llama Chase

If it weren't for the GOP debate, the llama chase of 2015 would be the most gripping thing I've ever seen on Fox News. Two llamas got loose in Phoenix and engaged in a riveting police chase through neighborhoods and down a highway. Shepard Smith narrated the entire ordeal with the zeal of a man who finally found his big break, and the nation watched in wonder. In the end, both llamas were taken into custody, thanks to some guys in a pickup truck. But for a brief moment there, we all learned what real hope felt like.

The greatest thing is that 2015 isn't even half over, and we've still got another five years left in this decade. Which means there are so many more strange and hilarious news stories to come. My bet is that a lot of them will happen during the 2016 election news cycle. What a time to be alive.