UFO hoax no joking matter

Malay told journalists that the Police Department, the municipality government and the Governor’s Office were aware of the hoax, noting that the concert organizers were to fly a balloon carrying lights near Palandoken Mountain during the concert. He said the hoax also included a singer fainting during the concert and another few missing after the concert.

Malay must have felt like he was a select few who were in the hoax when the news about the UFO and the fainting singer appeared on television on Tuesday night. Almost all of Turkey was glued to their TVs, trying to uncover the mystery. After the economic and political hardships the people have been through in the last few years and being sick and tired of waiting for the European Union to accept them, the Turkish people were ready for anything. Maybe the aliens could turn the economy around. There might even have been a few politicians preparing an application for Turkey to enter the inter-galactic alliance the aliens belonged to. They were ready to believe. They were seeking answers only Fox Mulder could have provided.

However, the people watching their TVs were not the only ones tricked. When Erzurum Police Department deputy-chief Ahmet Demiral was told that five singers and a journalist went missing after the UFO sighting, he took it very seriously and was not too pleased to learn that it was a hoax.

Demiral said: "This joke is no joking matter. Some guy comes and files a missing persons report. As a policeman, I have to take this seriously. I announced the matter to all policemen in the city. What if something like this happens tomorrow and I don’t take it seriously. What will happen to me? No one told me anything about the hoax. If they knew about it, they should have made it public?"

Erzurum Mayor Ahmet Kucukler was also informed about the hoax. He said someone had paid a visit and told him that they were preparing a show, adding: "We were not involved in it. I knew nothing about the details."

During a concert on Tuesday night in Erzurum, those watching the show panicked after seeing an object in the air and a singer, Filiz Karakas, reportedly fainted.

Later on, the manager of the singers, Semih Genel reported to the police and gendarmerie that five singers and a journalist, who wanted to see the UFO up close, went missing.

When these six missing people are found, they will probably wish they were abducted by aliens.