Monthly Archives: January 2017

Spoon-bender Geller ‘convinced CIA’

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Uri Geller, the self-proclaimed psychic known for his ability to bend spoons, had his telepathic skills tested by the US Central Intelligence Agency.

Newly published documents shows that Geller went to the Stanford Research Institute in 1973 for a week of experiments as part of the CIA’s Stargate programme, which looked at psychic powers and whether they could be weaponised in some way.

The CIA concluded: “As a result of Geller’s success in this experimental period, we consider that he has demonstrated his paranormal perception ability in a convincing and unambiguous manner.”

The cache of documents were declassified after a two-year campaign by freedom-of-information activists and a lawsuit against the CIA.

Lovely grub – here’s a grand

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Very happy diner leaves grand tip on 79 quid bill.

 

restaurant-coffee-cup-cappuccino

It’s a new year. Most people, including us here at Extraordinary News, are, to be frank, penny pinching. We’re avoiding takeaway coffees, cancelling our subscriptions to online streaming services and losing friends as we find excuses not to pay a round.

Not so a customer at Indian restaurant The Indian Tree in Portadown, in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, was so pleased with his dish, billed at £79.50 for five people, he slapped a whopping £1,000 tip on top.

It’s thought the mystery tipper, a businessman who pops into the curry house every couple of months when he’s in town, is a big fan of its chef, known as Babu.

Luna Ekush, who owns the restaurant, said the tip was “incredibly generous”.

“It is a very simple thing to express gratitude, but this has had such a big impact. We are still in shock,” she told the Portadown Times.

“All the staff working that night will split the money as the customer said it was for everyone.

“I don’t think anyone at the restaurant has ever received such a massive tip, I definitely have not.

“I want to thank Babu for his hard work, all credit for the food must go to him.”

Hollyweed? No, Hollywood

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Los Angeles residents must have thought they’d been smoking something when they woke up to a new year to find their famous Hollywood sign had been changed to read ‘Hollyweed’.

Security cameras caught a vandal, dressed in black, scaling the sign in the middle of the night, covering the Os in huge tarpaulins so they looked like Es.

The Hollywood Sign Trust, which maintains the world-famous, 50-foot-tall landmark, is to look at boosting security on the back of the incident, which is being investigated by police.

It’s thought the prank could be a knowing reference to voters in California approving a law which means the recreational use of marijuana will become legal from 2018.

However, it’s not the first time the sign has been changed to read Hollyweed. A college student first did it on January 1 1976, exactly 41 years to the day.

The original sign was first put up in 1923 and read Hollywoodland to promote a housing development. However, the last four letters deteriorated and were removed in the 1940s.