This Week's Weird News 7/17/26

A tantalizing new Nessie sighting, phony Russian 'mystics' exploiting the country's fuel crisis, and a would-be bank robber who brought a stolen kitten to the heist were among the weird and wondrous stories to cross our desk this past week.

The Loch Ness Monster made a splash with the emergence of a tantalizing photo that just might provide a glimpse of the legendary creature. Snapped by a tourist taking a cruise at the iconic Scottish site, the intriguing image shows a perplexing green shape that appeared beneath the surface of the water near the boat. Remarkably, even the company that runs the popular excursions said that they had no explanation for the mysterious mass seen in the picture. Meanwhile, a small Italian town is experiencing its fifteen minutes of fame after a photo purportedly showing a crocodile, now dubbed the Croc Ness Monster, in a community lake captivated the area and has turned the village into an unlikely summer tourist destination.

Providing further proof that underhanded individuals can use 'magic' to make mischief in any situation, it came to light this past week that Russian social media is awash with self-proclaimed mystics offering to help people during the country's crippling fuel crisis ... for a price. The so-called psychics hoping to take advantage of the difficult situation promise prospective clients that they can improve their vehicle's fuel efficiency using various 'rituals' and even enhance the potency of gasoline by way of costly 'spells.' As one might imagine, Russian media is sounding the alarm about the worrisome trend, warning the public about the 'mystical mechanics' who will only make their problems worse.

By far the most bizarre story of the week came from Maryland, where a sticky-fingered ne'er-do-well used a stolen kitten in an attempted bank robbery. The wild incident began when the suspect sauntered into a pet store and brazenly snatched the cat. However, that was just the start of his criminal misadventure as the man then dashed over to a nearby bank with the pilfered feline in tow. Upon arriving at a teller, the crook plopped the kitten into the hands of an employee while he wrote out a note demanding cash. Cops responding to the attempted robbery managed to take the man into custody and rescue the cat, which fortunately came out of the caper unscathed.

For more strange and unusual stories from the past week, check out the Coast to Coast AM website.