Dad Sparks Panic After Photographing ‘War Of The Worlds Aliens’ Coming Out Of The Sea

There are those among us that believe aliens exist, but there are also those that think a little more conspiratorially and live in fear of an alien attack. And recently, an individual from South Africa stoked this hysteria by sharing a bunch of photos that turned out to be so creepy that people started comparing it to something straight out of War of the Worlds. The dad in question, Jan Vorster, had taken a snap of the Still Bay beach in South Africa and then shared it on Facebook, where he hoped that it would raise concerns for the environment. But what his photos actually managed to do was create fear and confusion after a different page reuploaded the images but labeled the shapes in the pictures as sea spiders. Since then, the post went on to amass close to 52,000 shares and around 22,000 comments. 

One individual commented, “They look like some alien thing from War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise.” While another person wrote, “OMG I wouldn’t even stay to try and see what it is. I would run like hell.” While one could assume that some are simply expressing their humor in such a situation, the man who originally uploaded the picture stated that he had received messages from fearful holidaymakers who wanted him to assure them that the beach was absolutely safe to visit. The photos managed to bring in such strong emotions that some people even sent the images to an environmental scientist, who then confirmed that the looming shapes weren’t dangerous to humans. The scientist replied that the spidery shapes weren’t aliens, but rather dead aloe vera plants. 

People on Facebook Have Mistaken Dead Aloe Plants For Aliens

The 62-year-old Vorster then commented, “I thought I could use this as a metaphor for how people see these plants as aliens, but we are actually the two-legged aliens messing up their world. That was the idea. The comments started immediately. Then it was shared like you can’t believe. I was surprised (by the reaction). I thought that people would have fun with it, but then it was very serious, some of it was extremely serious. A lot of people were scared of these alien-looking sea monsters. It was like Jaws- is it safe to go into the water? People kept asking me when they were coming out, and if they were only coming out at night.”

Nevertheless, Jan did try to clear the misconception people had regarding the ‘aliens’. “People Googled the aloe ferox and couldn’t put two and two together. They kept saying, ‘Please help us, because this is not a plant. This can’t be a plant’. Some people said that I misled them and that I should be crucified for that. But lots of people have had a lot of fun. I learned a lot about social media. It’s just a picture. I didn’t expect this to happen and for the reaction to be so big. But I’ve learned a lot and I’m very motivated to continue with Aloeferoxes and keep focusing on nature-related issues.”

Interestingly, people never really stopped commenting on the picture even after the clarification from the photographer. One individual commented, “Just wanted to cancel my vacation. Because of things like this. I don’t swim. I’m already scared of a shark.” Another individual stated, “Are you serious? Holy moly…scary.” A third commenter wrote, “Never seen those before in all the years living on the coast. Maybe they’re only in Cape waters.”

Keep Reading: 50 Years Ago NASA Sent a Map Into Space to Help Aliens Find Earth—Now They’ve Got An Awesome Update

Sources

1. “Dad sparks panic after photographing ‘War of the Worlds aliens’ coming out of the sea.” Lad Bible. Jake Massey. December 14, 2022.
2. “‘Aliens’ crawling on coast spark panic online: ‘Is it safe to go into the water?’.” NY Post. Ben Cost. December 14, 2022.
3. “Photos of ‘War of the Worlds aliens’ crawling out of ocean spark panic among beachgoers.” Mirror. Kelly-Ann Mills. December 14, 2022.