Rocker Tom Petty has been banned from driving by his wife after an embarrassing episode at Adam Sandler's Malibu, California, wedding - when he crashed their car into a swarm of paparazzi.

The veteran AMERICAN GIRL star was temporarily distracted by a weather balloon, which he thought was a UFO, flying over the event.

He recalls, "We were driving down the Pacific Coast Highway and they have huge weather balloons to keep the helicopters from coming over the wedding.

"I'm clean and fairly sober and I thought this was a flying saucer. Helicopters were circling it. I thought, 'They're landing in Malibu.'

"So I make a bad turn and I hit this poor college kid's car in the left lane. I drove into a nest of 150 paparazzi, and so suddenly I'm being photographed and I'm really embarrassed.

"I get home and put on the news that night and it said, 'First guest to arrive at Adam Sandler's wedding is Tom Petty,' and I'm there sort of dazed and confused."

03/10/2003 09:19