I guess this was a fast-moving story. After all, by the time the sub-editor had finished writing that headline, it emerged that this particular UFO was neither U nor F. Apparently, it “turned out to be” a piece of a Russian rocket. Too bad they couldn’t revise the headline on time before the Internet went to press.
All of which is kind of odd seeing as the Mirror cite as their own source the following Tweet, which at the time of writing was two days old…
…and that that Tweet linked to a news story on openminds.tv, which itself was a further three days old…
…and that that website linked back to the original news report on chinanews.com, where the object’s origins as part of a failed Russian rocket were explained.
So, really, all this played out to a conclusion last Friday. Which in internet time is basically last year.
It is well known that UFO stories help fill space on slow news days.
I guess in this case the news was just reeeeaaaalllllyyyy slow.
Brian Hughes is an academic psychologist and university professor in Galway, Ireland, specialising in stress, health, and the application of psychology to social issues. He writes widely on the psychology of empiricism and of empirically disputable claims, especially as they pertain to science, health, medicine, and politics.