UFO Sighting In Portsmouth: Creators Admit To Hoax

The recent UFO sighting over Portsmouth on Sep. 16 created buzz on social media. But it turns out the sighting was a hoax, and the ones who created it have come clean.

A number of images were sent out of a UFO that brought people to wonder if the city was going to be invaded by green-skinned aliens, reported The News. The creators of the hoax have admitted to faking it as a publicity stunt. They wanted to draw attention to an upcoming science fiction and fantasy festival.

According to the initial few news stories published in various online websites, one of it being the Daily Star, many witnesses from Portsmouth had seen a silver-grey object that looked like a flying saucer. One of the people who shared their experience on Twitter, Josh Harcourt-Kelly, wrote:

Watching the sky and saw what looked like a UFO! Starting to believe in what people have been saying! #pompeyufo

— Josh Harcourt-Kelly (@MrJoshHK) September 17, 2014

An organiser of the event, Joshua Hibberd, from North End, admitted they had gotten around eight to ten people from around Portsmouth to take a picture at the same time (6 p.m.) on the same evening (Sep. 16). He said he had e-mailed another organiser, Dan Cook, the images that were captured.

Cook went on to Photoshop the images by adding a UFO to it. Hibberd added they had gotten help from other people to talk about the sighting on social media, too. The News covered the news first that created a stir in the international news circuit.

Hibberd continued he was amazed by the number of people who had taken to the incident. He hadn't expected it to be this big. Websites based in Canada, India, Singapore and lot of other places covered the incident. The organisers aimed to spread the incident just among the people of Portsmouth, but it went on to reach the world.

Hibberd was trying to promote his event SciFi and Fantasy Weekend that is to take place on Sep. 27 and 28 in Historic Dockland. Since they were on a low budget, he felt attracting attention this way was the best way to gather crowd without spending too much.

The festival aims to collect funds for two charities, one of which is The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Disease through the Hill Valley Preservation Society. It will involve a screening of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and a themed laser quest.