In Stephen Spielberg’s 1982 hit ET, the child protagonist Elliot finds an alien in the toolshed. In present day Shandong province, a local farmer has reported a variation on the theme: Li Kai caught a little green man in one of his rabbit traps next to the Yellow River. According to China Radio International, Li then shoved the alien into his fridge before posting a picture online (see photo). Li also claimed to have seen a squadron of the UFOs deposit his frozen catch on earth.
Not surprisingly this attracted widespread attention and several newspapers sent photographers. But who would have guessed it? The alien turned out to be no more real than Spielberg’s creation. The local police chief in Binzhou said the 44 kilogram model was made of wire, glue and paint pigment.
A contrite Li later confessed to the hoax, saying that he is a big fan of aliens and wanted more people to believe in their existence. He was then sentenced to five days in prison on the grounds that he’d “disturbed public order” with his stunt.
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