Why We Must Ban Fake UFOs

The UFO community in Hong Kong is up in arms about a newspaper flyer that featured a picture of a UFO. The flyer looked like some kind of news feature about a new UFO sighting, but it was actually an advertising insert for a cable TV company. What the UFO community is upset about is that people might have seen the flyer, thought it was a real news story, and then would have been disappointed to learn it was just a fake picture for an ad. A UFO researcher warns that the indiscriminate use of UFO imagery in this way might have dire consequences for public belief in UFOs: "What if there's something real happening in the future? People would still think it was fake... People won't believe in the existence of UFOs any more even if there were a real case in the future." I love that line of reasoning.

Extraterrestrial Life

Posted on Tue Mar 15, 2005


Comments

Alex: PLEASE STOP! This made me laugh so freakin' hard!
Posted by BugbearSloth  on  Wed Mar 16, 2005  at  12:07 AM
It's like the boy who cried wolf! The Hong Kong-ers who cried UFO?
Posted by Katherine  on  Wed Mar 16, 2005  at  12:28 AM
Thats nut's. Now the UFO people are offended. Is there any group out there that doesn't get offended.
Posted by X  on  Wed Mar 16, 2005  at  07:33 AM
The story said the paper was given away at MTR stations. If you've ever used Hong Kong's transit system, you'll know that everybody there is in too much of a hurry to pay attention to someone handing out flyers.
The advertisers should be carefull though. Read the two other stories at the top left:

"Phone companies fined over adverts"

"Newspaper fined over ads offering SARS cure"
Posted by Captain Al  on  Wed Mar 16, 2005  at  09:02 AM
Excuse me. The story links are at the top right.
Posted by Captain Al  on  Wed Mar 16, 2005  at  09:04 AM
I
Posted by Unfairly Balanced  on  Thu Mar 17, 2005  at  08:28 AM
flyer is a name for a high-speed train or aircraft.
flier is the word for a paper advertisement.
(one who flies a plane is an aviator)
Posted by around  on  Thu Mar 17, 2005  at  12:42 PM
My Collins dictionary says either spelling is correct for both uses. The online Merriam-Webster agrees.
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=flyer
Posted by Captain Al  on  Thu Mar 17, 2005  at  05:49 PM
Jatropha Curcas Seed exporters in India. Supplying Jatropha Curcas Seeds for cultivation of fuel crop Jatropha.
Posted by David  on  Thu Dec 07, 2006  at  10:52 PM
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