Chinese farmer gets 5 days in jail for his story on alien invasion

A Chinese farmer received a five-day jail sentence after admitting to authorities that he made up a story about electrocuting an alien, reports the Telegraph.

The man, identified as Li, told authorities he was inspired by the 2011 science fiction comedy "Paul" starring Simon Pegg and Seth Rogan as the voice of the titular alien. Li created his own alien out of rubber, wire, and bone glue and then photographed it, claiming that he had electrocuted the space creature, according to a report from Reuters.

He posted a tall tale about the aliens and a UFO on a Chinese website.

"I was setting an electric trap for rabbits by the Yellow river when I saw a bright light," Li wrote, according to the Telegraph. "Above my bike, a UFO was floating. One by one, five aliens came down, but one of them stumbled into one of my rabbit traps and was electrocuted. The others went back into their ship and flew away."

The story and accompanying photos were a hit online and drew the attention of Chinese authorities. They questioned Li, who eventually admitted that he had made the whole thing up because he wanted other people to believe in little green men.

"After the police interrogated me, I confessed I was a fan of UFOs and the alien was a fake. I just wanted other people to believe that aliens existed," Li told the Shandong Evening News, according to the Telegraph.

Li was charged with disturbing the public order.