Mars Explorer missions have found out some fascinating facts about our closest neighbour including the possible presence of water sometime in the past. From time to time, we've had films made about the little green people of Mars as we imagined them to be. Then came a truly outrageous claim – about watermelons on Mars – made by the NYT no less.
The New York Times is one of the most respected of publications with an illustrious 170-year history and 130 Pulitzers, the most of any newspaper in the world. They published and then deleted an article that said ‘Authorities say rise of fruit aliens is to blame for glut of outer space watermelons' .
Some had this question – what are the police doing giving information about other planets?
Kiwis have been intercepted? Tell me more!
The story was taken down, but there are always archives and screenshots, worse luck.
Within an hour of publication, the article was deleted. A spokesperson clarified that this was ‘a mock article for a testing system that was never meant to be published’.
A former employee with the NYT confirmed that this is a potential problem; the possibility of a fake article getting published from the CMS (content management system).
This probably gave some people ideas about a new movie/ series/ book or graphic novel.
He is the would-be space traveller – perhaps he has already trademarked Muskmelons from Mars?
Of course, people thought of the Martians in the hilarious Mars Attacks! Right now, the crazy shenanigans of the exo-brained Martians in the Jack Nicholson and Glenn Close starrer film seem about as likely as watermelons on Mars.
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