Big bucks for ET lookalike
2004-12-01 12:39
Australia - First it was a purported likeness of the Virgin Mary in a cheese sandwich. Now, a single grain of breakfast cereal with an uncanny resemblance to cuddly movie alien ET has reportedly fetched 1 035 Australian dollars in an internet auction.
Chris Doyle of Sydney said he was about to pour milk over his cereal one morning when he noticed an ET lookalike peering from his bowl.
Inspired by the $28 000 online sale in November of a sandwich which some claimed appeared to have the Virgin Mary's face on it, the 27-year-old graphic designer decided to cash in on his alien-looking piece of cereal.
"I just didn't think it would go this far," Doyle told The Daily Telegraph newspaper. "I was just trying to find someone who feels the same way about ET as they do about the Virgin Mary."
On the eBay online auction site, bidding for the grain - which has been lacquered to preserve it - started at A$20 last week, and closed late on Tuesday with more than 40 offers from around the world. Most came from one bidder.
The reported seller and buyer did not immediately reply to
e-mailed queries seeking comment.
Doyle described the grain online as "truly amazing, one of a kind", and said it had not been altered or manipulated in any way.
Steven Spielberg's 1982 film ET The Extra-Terrestrial, a tale of a homely but lovable alien befriended by a 10-year-old boy on earth, became a cultural sensation.
- AP