April Fools UFO cause panic at 5:47 PM

(April 6, 2010) The Associated Press today reported that a Jordanian newspaper article meant to be an April Fools joke sparked panic in Amman. The article, published in Al Ghad, told of a UFO landing near the town of Jafr. The UFO was allegedly a flying saucer used to transport 10-foot extraterrestrials. It was described as lighting up the whole town and disrupting communications.

The mayor of Jafr, Mohammed Mleihan, sent security forces to look for the extraterrestrials. He said that he was about to evacuate Jafr's 13,000 residents who were frightened that "aliens would attack them". Mleihan considered suing Al Ghad but its managing editor Moussa Barhoumeh apologized saying "We meant to entertain, not scare people".

This incident recalls Orson Welles' radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' classic science-fiction novel The War of Worlds which was broadcast on October 30, 1938 and caused a similar panic in the United States.