Russian Officials To Investigate Regional President's Alien Abduction Claims 184
wdef writes "The BBC reports that a Russian MP has asked President Dmitry Medvedev to investigate claims by a regional president that he has met aliens on board a spaceship. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the leader of the southern region of Kalymkia, made his claim in a television interview. Mr Ilyumzhinov said in an interview on primetime television that he had been taken on board an alien spaceship which had come to planet Earth to take samples — and claims to have several witnesses. He has been president of Kalmykia, a small Buddhist region of Russia which lies on the shores of the Caspian Sea, for 17 years. As president of the World Chess Federation, he has spent tens of millions of dollars turning the impoverished republic into a mecca for chess players — building an entire village to host international tournaments. MP Andre Lebedev is not just asking whether Mr Ilyumzhinov is fit to govern. He is also concerned that, if he was abducted, he may have revealed details about his job and state secrets."
Two words for you: crazy dictator (Score:3, Interesting)
I have two words for you: "Crazy dictator".
Russian regional "governators" are appointed by president and all they have to do to stay in power in their local feods is simply lick Moscow's ass.
At this circumstances it's a badge of honor for a local tzar to say something batshit crazy just to show that you are one wholesome untouchable sonofabitch.
Well, it worked when Mr. Smith got caught (Score:5, Interesting)
It's amazing the extremes some politicans will go to to cover up affairs from their wives. "You see honey, I spend all weekend with...uh...ALIENS!" In other news, Ilyumzhinov is also planning a hiking trip this weekend on the Appalachian Trail--where his cellphone won't work, so don't even bother calling.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time a rediculously tall tail helped through the missus off the scent. When (Mormon founder) Joseph Smith was caught molesting a 14-year-old child [exmormon.org], he simply told his followers (and his wife) that an angel with a sword commanded him to do it, and that everyone thereafter was ordered (by God, by way of sword-wielding angel and self-proclaimed prophet) to have more than one wife, on pain of death and damnation.
Which of course led to such wonderful quotes as:
"I think no more of taking another wife than I do of buying a cow."
- Apostle Heber C. Kimball, The Twenty Seventh Wife, Irving Wallace, p. 101.
It's an interesting progression of excuses:
1. The Devil made me do it!
2. God, in the form of an angel with a flaming sword, made me do it!
3. Aliens made me do it!
At least with aliens, it's trendy and captures the zeitgeist
Re:"Regional President"? (Score:4, Interesting)
Anyone who is sane would keep their mouths shut about it.
It's kinda like the sailors who talked about the rogue waves, it wasn't until it was properly documented that they no longer considered the victims of rogue waves of just being bad sailors and bad liars.
Re:Anyone else? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, very much so, in a Carl Sagan "wow the universe is big and we're small" kind of way, not a Steven Hawking "don't talk to alien strangers" kind of way ;)
Agreed. I couldn't believe that was Hawking's conclusion. Very silly. The universe is literally full of resources. Why would aliens literally pass up limitless resources to come to our planet, just to take ours? It suggests a mental and societal deficiency, combined with a warmongering capability, which would absolutely preclude the level of development which would make such a galactic proposition, all but impossible.
Its like passing up an endless row of candy factories just so you can take it from babies. Doesn't make sense in the least. Its just silly.
I believe him; something happened to him. (Score:3, Interesting)
He's far from the only one who has reported this - an awful lot of very credible people have - people who have nothing to gain and everything to lose by even mentioning it.
So there is something going on.
I think people are remiss by dismissing people who report this stuff and labelling them as "crazy." History is full of examples of people reporting on anomalies and being called crazy only to find these anomalies accepted as fact later on.
Re:Two words for you: crazy dictator (Score:4, Interesting)
Do not be surprised at the popularity of authoritarian leaders in Russia. That's one of the weird things about the country. Someone who's pretty much a dictator or at least an autocrat can still be popular enough to win in a genuine election. Heck, Medvedev was elected because Putin said Medvedev is his preferred candidate. While Russian elections do apparently have vote-fixing in certain areas/demographics (not deliberate miscounts of votes, but people being forced to vote for a candidate), there's no doubt that the majority really did vote for Medvedev. Or that Putin easily had enough support for his second term.
Seems like in smaller regions of Russia, many people are happy about having a local authoritarian-style leader. I think it's one of the worst legacies of the Soviet Union in this part of the world, and a legacy that's going to be tough to get rid of. I mean the people's contentedness (contentment? not sure of the English word) to have a guy in charge that makes the calls. A "strong ruler".
This is one of the things I like about how Americans view their society. Americans and mostly happy and proud to vote, from what I've seen. They certainly would hate being in a situation where they don't have the opportunity to do so.
Re:It's Always the Chess Players (Score:5, Interesting)
Tomorrow we'll find out Kasparov has invented a "free energy" machine and historians have found a volume of letters from Paul Morphy claiming he controlled the moon.
Kasparov is batshit-crazy. For one thing, he is an ardent and outspoken supporter of Fomenko's "New Chronology" [wikipedia.org] - go ahead, read what's at that link, and tell me if a sane person can believe this.
Then also, politically, Kasparov is by and large a neo-con. Yes, he's still an opposition to the existing regime in Russia, and I'd prefer him over the guys who rule the country now, but overall, his politics are also rather extreme.
Re:Two words for you: crazy dictator (Score:3, Interesting)
Do not be surprised at the popularity of authoritarian leaders in Russia. That's one of the weird things about the country.
There is nothing surprising here. Russian history had weak rulers and strong rules. Weak ones brought disaster; strong ones brought success and prosperity. You don't need to go too far back, just look at the chaos and wars of Yeltsin's years.
Americans and mostly happy and proud to vote, from what I've seen. They certainly would hate being in a situation where they don't have the opportunity to do so.
I find this placebo to be quite interesting. They vote and they enjoy voting, but their votes change nothing. Perhaps they should classify voting as entertainment.