A pilot in New Zealand couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a shark swimming/flying past him at 7,000ft.

He'd been preparing to land a passenger jet Christchurch International Airport when he spotted the 1.5m long shark staring back at him.

But there was no need to worry -- because the shark in question was actually an inflatable remote-controlled toy which had flown off.

The 'Air Swimmer' toys have been a popular present this Christmas and police have been bombarded with reports of escaped inflatable sharks.

Experts say that other than giving the pilot a shock, the helium-filled shark was unlikely to pose any threat to the flight.

A bungling burglar who tried to steal Christmas trees from a nursery has been caught -- after police simply followed a trail of pine needles.

Officers from West Yorkshire Police say they just had to follow the fallen green spikes for half a mile to get their man.

Five trees had been pinched from Park House Nurseries in Spenborough and sure enough after following the needle that's what they found dumped in a garden.

A police spokesman said: "The foliage led officers to a house where the stolen trees were found and recovered. As an extra present, officers also found a cannabis farm at the address."

A spokesperson from the nursery said the trees had been marketed as low needle drop trees… but had still dropped enough for them to follow.

Today is officially the day when Britons finally start to feel 'Christmassy', a study has discovered.
 
A survey of 2,000 people found the festive feeling only arrives when we’ve ticked off 60 per cent of the Christmas shopping and started counting down the days until the festive break.
 
Putting up decorations, wrapping a handful of gifts and hearing festive songs also contribute to the uplift in our mood, as does the office Christmas party.

Other things which will make this Thursday Christmassy include turning on the Christmas lights, watching Christmas movies and eating the first mince pie of the year.

Constantly hearing Christmas songs is also said to make many people feel Christmassy… thought we find it just makes us feel mad.

You'd have thought he'd be busy making last minute preparations for tonight - but this surveillance footage shows Santa is still finding time to fight crime.

Police in Sicilly say this footage shows a policeman arresting a suspected mafia member who was collecting protection money from a shopkeeper.

The video - shot with hidden cameras - shows the alleged mobster going into the store and taking money from the cashier.

But as he walks out and to his car he is jumped on by undercover officer, and one in a less inconspicuous red Santa costume.

So far police haven't explained why the officers was dressed as Santa. By which we obviously mean (if any kids are reading this), police haven't explained why Santa was helping them out.

What is it with nano-scientists and Christmas? Last year they created the world's smallest snowman - this time it's Christmas cards.

Engineers have produced the world's smallest Christmas card which measures just 200 micro-metres wide by 290 micro-metres tall.

In case you don't know exactly how small that is (a micro-metre is a millionth of a metre) the card is invisible to the naked eye and you could fit 8,276 of them on an area the size of a stamp.

Which means if you forgot to send anyone a card this year, you can always tell them you sent them one of these and they must have lost it.

A retired teacher has entered the record books after being recognised as the biggest collector of Santa Claus-themed memorabilia in the world.

74-year-old Jean-Guy Laquerre from Quebec, Canada, has accumulated an incredible 25,189 festive items from 33 countries over the past 22 years.

His record-breaking collection, which is still growing in size, now take up most of his house, but it all started with a single Santa Claus statuette he was left by a dead relative.

That inspired he to acquire more and more, but now Jean-Guy has a band of helpers who send him Santa Claus gifts from antique shops and garage sales… whether he wants them or not.

The average mum will spend 42 hours preparing for Christmas by the time the big day arrives, a study has revealed yesterday.

That means the equivalent of almost two days will be taken up choosing, buying and wrapping presents and taking care of food shopping.

On top of that she will have spent time putting decorations up around the house and on the tree, and cleaning up in preparation for visitors.

Researchers found the biggest chunk of time is taken up by present buying, with a staggering 20 hours and 13 minutes spent visiting 42 different shops.

After the mammoth shopping spree, mums then spend almost four hours wrapping 39 different presents. Dads meanwhile begin their preparation at 5pm on Christmas Eve.

A bus driver who was filmed veering into the wrong lane to 'brutally murder' a snowman has been forced to resign.

The Frostie killing happen on the University of Illinois campus after students built a large snowman in the middle of a road.

While other drivers were slowing down to carefully navigate around the obstacle, one bus driver seems to have taken exception to the snowman.

A video uploaded to YouTube shows him veering his bus onto the wrong side of the road to smash into the figure an obliterate it.

But while the students enjoyed the snow massacre, bus bosses were less impressed and say the driver has been forced to resign. And that's snow joke.

They're slightly more macabre than the typical teddy bear, but a range of 'roadkill' soft toys are expected to be a Christmas hit.

Created by designer Adam Arber the toys look like animals which have been run over -- complete with plush blood and guts.

Currently there are three squashed-looking gruesome characters, Twitch the Racoon, Grind the Rabbit and Splodge the Hedgehog.

All come with a body bag and an identity tag and their insides can be pulled out and then packed back inside.

Makers say they make perfect gifts for sociopaths… and could be ideal for traumatising your little one on Christmas morning, though they suggest not gifting them to under 14s.

After finding out her boyfriend was cheating on her, Leanne Joseph decided she didn't want to open the Christmas gifts he had bought her.

She also didn't want anything around the house which reminded her of the love-rat -- so instead she put the eight wrapped presents up for auction on eBay.

The 24-year-old said in her listing that her former boyfriend normally bought her jewellery, perfume and underwear and  she expected more of the same this year.

She added that her likes (which he knew) include pink girly items, bling and designer labels.

Bids have already reached over £200 for the presents - which could be a lot for a card saying he has met someone else.