Cruise sparks 'alien' panic
2005-07-09 21:17
London - Tom Cruise's new film War Of The Worlds has been blamed for a mass panic in Siberia after locals mistook a tornado for an alien invasion.
People in the Khabarovsk region of Siberia jumped into their cars and fled their homes in panic when the freak wind arrived out of nowhere, flattening trees and destroying property.
But officials from local emergency services said the destruction had been caused by a freak tornado that ripped through the area.
They blamed the fear of an alien invasion on the recent showing of the War Of The Worlds.
Natalia Lukash, spokesperson for Russia's Far-Eastern Emergency Situations Centre, said: "It was a strange phenomenon and many people jumped to the wrong conclusion and believed it had been caused by alien space ships landing in the area."
Experts have been sent to the area to survey the damage. - Ananova.com
- News24