UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Inventor says his saucer will replace cars

DETROIT, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- While electric cars and hybrids dominate talk at the big auto show in Detroit, a Michigan inventor says his flying saucer would make such discussions moot.

Alfie Carrington, 59, says he is in the home stretch of the design and construction of the saucer, which is more specifically a perpetual flying machine that creates its own magnetic field and never needs refueling.

"People think I'm nuts," Carrington conceded to The Detroit News during an interview in his barn in Clinton Township outside Detroit.

But the News said Tuesday that the stakes are high for America and its earthbound auto industry because a perpetual flying saucer could replace cars and eliminate the need for gasoline.

"Think of it as something like a flying car," Carrington said. "It would have space capabilities too, but when I mention that, people treat me like I'm crazy."

Space travel has, indeed, not done much for Carrington's marketing efforts. He told the News his efforts to secure funding have, thus far, failed and he wasn't invited to pitch his technology at the North American International Auto Show.

Teen dad misspells 'father' on TV

LONDON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A British 18-year-old with three children has drawn ridicule after he failed a TV personality's challenge to spell the word "father."

Ben Smith, 18, said on ITV1's "The Jeremy Kyle Show" that he has fathered children with three girls, ages 16 and 17, and was brought on the program to determine the paternity of a fourth pregnant teenager's child, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Smith, who was found not to be the father of the fourth child, was challenged by host Jeremy Kyle to spell the word "father" after the show's anchor accused the young father of irresponsibility.

Smith's response to the challenge, "F-a-r-t-h-e-r," drew mocking laughter from the audience, but the teenager was apparently unaware of his spelling mistake, viewers said.

"The entire audience were in stitches as Ben didn't know he had made a basic spelling mistake," one viewer told the Daily Star. "It wouldn't surprise me if the stud he had through his eyebrow was actually an earring he had put in the wrong place by accident."

Fireman fined after blocking hydrant

NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The New York City Conflict of Interest Board has fined a firefighter $1,000 after he parked in front of a hydrant and left a note asking not to be ticketed.

The board heard Monday that Christopher Santana was photographed parking his Cadillac SUV, which bears license plates reading "BRAVEST1," in front of a hydrant May 11 and leaving a note on his dashboard asking traffic agents not to give him a citation, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

"I'm really a fireman," Santana wrote. "I work in Engine 46."

"Thank you for your courtesy," the note read.

Santana, a four-year veteran of the city fire department, admitted to the accusations, the Daily News said.

Virginity bids reach millions, wildlife

NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A 22-year-old woman auctioning off her virginity at a legal brothel in Nevada said current bids include $3.8 million and a live tiger.

The woman, who is using the pseudonym Natalie Dylan for the auction, said one bid for her virginity at the Bunny Ranch brothel in Carson City, Nev., came from a man who offered $3.8 million with the condition that he be allowed to videotape the sex, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

She said another bid came from a zookeeper who offered her a live tiger in exchange for her virginity.

"I'm still getting offers, but I'm not necessarily taking the highest bidder," Dylan said Monday.

Dylan said she is writing a book about the auction, which does not yet have an end date.

"Hey, I've done it for 22 years," she said of remaining chaste. "What's a few more months?"