Weird News from Around the World
Woman finds lottery ticket worth $470K while doing taxes
Officials say a New Jersey woman found a winning lottery ticket worth more than $470,000 while preparing to file her taxes.
The state lottery announced on Thursday that Yokasta Boyer, of Clifton, found the Jersey Cash 5 ticket from an April 2015 drawing and was able to file her claim about two weeks before the ticket expired in April.
Boyer says she had her brother verify the winning numbers after finding the ticket.
Boyer, who has a full-time and part-time job, says she plans to pay off her debts and spend more time with family and friends during the coming Christmas holiday season.
The ticket was bought at the Quick Mart in Clifton.
'Watch your step': Beachgoers warned of scary-looking fish
A surfing group is warning beachgoers to watch their step after a scary-looking fish was found lurking in the Virginia Beach sand.
Multiple news outlets report the East Coast Surfing Championships wrote on their Facebook page that one of the company's friends came across a northern stargazer fish while walking. The strange-looking fish has a speckled, flattened body and a large head.
Although the Chesapeake Bay Program's website says that stargazers tend to live at the bottom of deep, open waters, this particular one was found near the shore.
The program says stargazers bury in the sand with their eyes and mouth sticking out in order to ambush prey.
Surfing officials say that while northern stargazers don't pose any real threat to humans, their electric spines make them a serious predator.
Pizzeria with name similar to video game flooded with calls
A family-owned pizzeria in New Jersey has become inundated with calls from around the country asking if the restaurant inspired the setting for a popular online video game.
Freddie's Restaurant and Pizzeria, in Long Branch, has received thousands of calls over the past year from people asking if it's Freddy's Fazbear Pizza, the setting for the video game Five Nights at Freddy's, the Asbury Park Press (http://on.app.com/29AMgag) reported.
In the horror video game, the player is a security guard attacked by animatronic robots.
A Freddie's employee said the restaurant has added phone lines and shifted workers around to handle incoming calls. Regular customers have experienced difficulties getting through and placing their orders.
"I've never seen anything like this," said Edna Moore, a waitress who has worked at Freddie's for 34 years. "You can get 200 calls in an hour. It's very annoying. You try to do your job, and you keep picking the phone up."
The phones usually begin ringing once school lets out and ramp up as the day goes on.
The game's creator, Scott Cawthon, didn't respond to an email seeking comment. An automated response said there are no phone numbers associated with the game and noted all locations are not real.
"Please do not call any phone numbers that you think may be associated with the game," the response stated.
Onlookers heeded call to help largest square dance attempt
Some spectators at a Tennessee bluegrass festival jumped in at the last minute to help locals try to break the Guinness World Record for largest square dance.
Gloria Christy says they may have tipped the balance. She's president of Uncle Dave Macon Days in Murfreesboro.
The Daily News Journal reports 808 dancers were needed to break the record Thursday. Organizers counted 736 dancers before they put the call out to onlookers. Christy says she thinks about 200 more people joined.
The potential record could take weeks to verify. Video recordings, colored arm bands and more than two dozen record officials and judges will help determine the exact number of dancers.
Festival officials say regardless of whether they broke the record, they plan to do it again next year.
This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Weird News from Around the World."