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THE FIRST STRANGE & UNUSUAL UFO CASE:
illagers Blame UFO for India Attacks
By Prajnan Bhattacharya
Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 12, 2002; 2:38 PM
SHANWA, India It comes in
the night, a flying sphere emitting
red and blue lights that attacks
villagers in this poor region,
extensively burning those victims it
does not kill.
At least that's what panic-stricken
villagers say. At least seven people
have died of unexplained injuries in the past week in Uttar Pradesh state.
"A mysterious flying object attacked him in the night," Raghuraj Pal said of his
neighbor, Ramji Pal, who died recently in Shanwa. "His stomach was ripped
open. He died two days later."
Many others have suffered scratches and surface wounds, which they say
were inflicted while they slept. In the village of Darra, 53-year-old Kalawati
said she was attacked last week and displayed blisters on her blackened
forearms.
"It was like a big soccer ball with sparkling lights," said Kalawati, who uses
only one name. "It burned my skin."
"I can't sleep because of pain," she said.
Doctors dismiss the stories as mass hysteria.
"More often than not the victims have unconsciously inflicted the symptoms
themselves," said Narrotam Lal, a doctor at King George's Medical College
in Lucknow, the state capital.
The police have another explanation: bugs.
"It is a three-and-a-half-inch-long winged insect" that leaves rashes and
superficial wounds, Kavindra P. Singh, a superintendent of police, told the
Press Trust of India news agency.
Police drew this conclusion after residents of one village found insects they
had never seen before.
Villagers are unconvinced. In the most affected area, the Mirzapur district,
440 miles southeast of New Delhi, people have stopped sleeping outdoors
despite the sweltering heat and frequent power outages.
Villagers also have formed protection squads that patrol Shanwa, beating
drums and shouting slogans such as, "Everyone alert. Attackers beware."
Some accuse district officials of inaction and failing to capture the "aliens."
One person died Thursday in nearby Sitapur when police fired shots to
disperse a 10,000-strong crowd demanding that authorities capture the
mysterious attackers.
"People just block the roads and attack the police for inaction each time
there's a death or injury," said Amrit Abhijat, Mirzapur's district magistrate,
who claims he has captured the UFO on film.
© 2002 The Associated Press
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