The Jafr alien invasion was a

prank A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

published on the front page of the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian newspaper ''Al-Ghad'' on April 1, 2010. The article claimed that

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

s had landed in a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

close to the town of Jafr, and described the

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

of the objects as "3m (10ft) creatures". The newspaper reported that all communications "went down" due to the effect generated by the objects. The story described in great detail that the town had been lit by the aliens'

flying saucers A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

during their night landing, and that the light caused residents to run out into the streets. After word of the article spread throughout Jafr, many residents were terrified and kept their children home from school. Jafr Mayor Mohammed Mleihan notified security authorities and prepared to issue an evacuation order for the entire town of 13,000 residents. Mleihan noted that residents were "scared that aliens would attack them" and considered suing the newspaper for their "big lie". The newspaper formally apologised for the inconvenience the stunt had caused. The newspaper's editor did not specify why Jafr was chosen as the butt of the joke, but BBC coverage noted that the area was "notorious" for its military bases that were used by

American soldiers ''American Soldiers'' is a 2005 war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20 ...

during joint military exercises with the Jordanian military, and which once housed alleged

al-Qaida Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countri ...

militants. The prank drew comparison to the 1938 radio broadcast of ''War of the Worlds'' which provoked panic in the United States. Although April Fool's Day jokes in newspapers are a common tradition in some countries, this is not the case in Jordan.

References

{{Reflist, 2, refs= {{cite web, title= 'Alien invasion' April Fools' story angers Jordan mayor , date=April 5, 2010, publisher=

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

References

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