Partner Article

Jordan fooled by alien hoax

A Jordanian mayor is considering suing a newspaper over an April Fools’ Day report saying aliens had landed nearby.

Al-Ghad’s front-page story on 1 April said flying saucers flown by 3m (10ft) creatures had landed in the desert town of Jafr, in eastern Jordan.

It said communication networks went down and frightened townspeople fled into the streets.

The mayor, Mohammed Mleihan, said parents were so frightened they did not send their children to school that day.

“Students didn’t go to school, their parents were frightened and I almost evacuated the town’s 13,000 residents,” Mr Mleihan told the Associated Press.

“People were scared that aliens would attack them.”

He immediately notified the security authorities, who he said combed the area looking for the aliens. They did not find any.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .