News

The Pentagon is coming clean about a number of unidentifiable flying phenomena in a new report ... including one "near miss" encounter between a commercial plane and a UFO on the East Coast.

The eyebrow-raising case, which was among 757 instances explored in the report, took place in the past year off the coast of New York state. Per the annual report, an airline crew flagged a "near miss with a ‘cylindrical object’ while over the Atlantic Ocean" to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Though it's unclear when exactly the instance took place, or which airline was involved, the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office is investigating the matter ... as there may have been a "flight safety issue" during the unexplained encounter.

Alex Jones having his InfoWars website taken over by The Onion is poetic justice ... at least as far as the parent of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim is concerned.

David Wheeler, whose son Benjamin was one of the first-graders murdered at the elementary school in 2012, tells TMZ ... he's happy the satirical news site is the new owner of Jones' pride and joy ... and he can't think of a better example of karma.

Jones had to put InfoWars up for auction to pay off his debts, including the $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit he lost to families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims.

U.S. Congressional Democrats might take some tips from this wild scene in New Zealand's Parliament, where minority lawmakers staged a fierce protest ... leaving one party leader shaking in his boots.

Right in the middle of a critical Parliamentary vote Thursday, members of the opposition party interrupted the prim and proper process by busting out the indigenous Maori war dance called the Haka.

Opposition party Member of Parliament Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke kicked it off when she was called on to vote yay or nay, but instead shouted the opening cry of the Haka while ripping up the legislation.

Chanel Maya Banks -- an actress with credits on shows like "Blue Bloods" and "Gossip Girl" -- has been found safe and sound ... this after she was reported missing last week.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Chanel has now been found safe and sound. She doesn't have any injuries and foul play isn't suspected.

ICYMI ... authorities reportedly conducted a welfare check at the L.A. apartment Chanel shares with her husband last week ... where they found all her belongings as well as her dog -- but, no sign of the actress.

President-elect Donald Trump visited the White House Wednesday morning at the invitation of President Joe Biden, and the 2 sat down together in the Oval Office. Trump thanked Biden for making this transition one of the smoothest ever, so far.

After they sat down, Trump and Biden smiled for the cameras -- and were hit with a cacophony of shouted questions directed at the pair. Secret Service and staffers then ushered the yelling reporters out of the Oval Office without having any of their questions answered.

The invitational meeting is traditionally held whenever a new POTUS is elected -- although Trump didn't extend an invite to Biden as he refused to accept the 2020 election results. Despite their prior war of words, Obama invited Trump in 2016, days after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.

Pete Hegseth's nomination by Donald Trump for U.S. Secretary of Defense has sparked quite a bit of chatter ... especially regarding the Fox News host's aim -- or lack thereof.

Footage from Pete's early Fox News days has resurfaced amid news of his big nomination ... showing the Army National Guard officer participating in an axe-throwing contest against then-costar Clayton Morris on "Fox & Friends." Despite Pete's military training, he struggles to make contact with the target ... instead striking an innocent bystander with the tool.

Check it out ... Pete stands directly in front of a wooden platform with a large target situated on top. Pete throws the axe at the bullseye, but it doesn't even make contact ... instead flying above and hitting a member of a drum corps standing on the other side.

Peanut the Squirrel is officially in the clear, testing negative for rabies after his death, but get this -- it's also emerged that both he and Fred the Raccoon were set for the chopping block days before they were seized in a raid ... and their owner is absolutely livid over it.

Mark Longo didn't hold back, telling TMZ it's hard to stomach the bombshell revelation that 4 different agencies had already given the green light to euthanize his pets 7 days before they were even taken from his Upstate New York property on October 30.

The New York Post reports state officials advised the county to euthanize the animals a week before the raid was launched. This news contradicts the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's claim that Peanut had bitten an agent during the raid ... supposedly necessitating the rabies test. Animals must be euthanized to properly test for rabies.

A male model who has appeared in Vogue has been arrested and charged in the brutal stabbing death of a father in New York that left the deceased with a knife lodged in his chest.

20-year-old model Dynus Saxon is facing charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon in the death of 35-year-old Kadeem Grant, who cops say was fatally stabbed Sunday in the Bronx.

Dynus has graced the pages of Vogue Italia, modeled clothes for Calvin Klein and Levi's, and made appearances at movie premieres for "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "The Batman."

Passengers onboard the Spirit Airlines flight struck by gunfire are speaking out in the aftermath of the harrowing ordeal ... confessing the situation left many "traumatized."

"Good Morning America" spoke with 2 passengers after their flight from Florida to Port-au-Prince, Haiti was diverted when gunfire damaged the aircraft as it approached to land in the city ... with bullets piercing the cabin, injuring a flight attendant.

Passenger Jean-David Desrouleaux said he heard a "clock, clock, clock" sound before realizing it was bullets striking the plane. He said he wasn't alone in the revelation, noting a few others realized the gravity of the situation in the aftermath of the shooting.

A group of people on a sinking ship in the Atlantic found themselves in the happiest place on Earth ... in the middle of the ocean, after they were rescued by a Disney Cruise Line ship. New video released by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the dramatic Sunday rescue.

Four people were sailing on a 50-foot catamaran called The Serenity, about 230 miles off the coast of Bermuda, when they ran into trouble.

A married couple, their daughter and a cousin radioed for help after a malfunction in the craft's escape hatch caused the craft to start taking on water and begin sinking.

A mysterious, but beautiful, canine hybrid was caught on camera ... and now experts are trying their best to ID the beast.

Voyageurs Wolf Project, a conservation org in Minnesota, recently shared some shots of the creature ... and asked if it could be the “elusive wyote dog'” — a fake wolf-coyote-dog hybrid.

All joking aside, the group noted the animal looked “coyote-esque” to them ... but has some dog-like aspects -- specifically the ears.

Donald Trump is on his way back to the White House ... and the controversy surrounding the death of Peanut the squirrel might have helped ... at least that's what the squirrel's owner thinks.

Mark Longo told TMZ he was humbled and honored that on Monday, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was at a rally, talking about how "fired up" DT was over the death of Peanut ... which ML is sure helped them at the polls.

Those campaign comments -- as ML sees it -- showed Trump cares about the little guy ... even if that little guy is a medium-sized rodent that took social media by storm with his tricks.

Peanut the squirrel might just get justice after all ... as authorities are investigating a raid that resulted in the tragic death of the beloved social media star, TMZ has confirmed.

Mark Longo, Peanut's owner, tells TMZ ... he has been made aware that the Department of Environmental Conservation is conducting an “internal investigation” into why 2 of his pets were seized  -- and later killed -- from his Pine City home.

ML tells us he does not know too much at this point ... but he is expecting to hear more on Saturday about just what the heck is going on.

The Ohio shooting that nearly took out Bounty Tank -- the famed bounty hunter -- is all on video recorded for his show, and TMZ got the first look at the incident he's lucky to have survived.

This never-before-seen raw footage shows the moment Frank Frazier -- better known as "Bounty Tank" -- is struck by gunfire. You see him rounding a corner outside a house in Akron last month as he tries to serve a warrant, commanding the suspect to put his hands up ... when suddenly 2 gunshots ring out.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is finally weighing in on the 2024 U.S. election, extending his congratulations to Donald Trump on his victory and commending his courage after surviving his July assassination attempt.

At an international forum in Sochi Thursday, Putin shared his admiration for Trump, saying, "His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man."

The Russian leader added ... "He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man."

Mark Wahlberg's Mexican restaurant went up in flames in Nevada ... and the footage showing Wednesday night's fire is downright shocking.

Check out the video ... people are standing outside Flecha Cantina in Las Vegas, staring through the windows at the blaze raging inside the eatery.

A fire truck is parked in front of the joint, but nowhere can you see firefighters battling the inferno.