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Koi Alien Photo 24

Koi Alien Photo 24 appears to show an alien shaking hands with President Bill Clinton. It appears on numerous websites.

In fact, Koi Alien Photo 24 was first published on the front cover of the issue of the Weekly World News dated 9 May 2000 (under the headline "Alien Backs Clinton") and on several pages inside that issue. The Weekly World News was a satirical newspaper which appeared to take a delight in inventing the silliest stories it could create.

That article was one of many in the Weekly World News relating to a space alien allegedly meeting with President Clinton, President Bush (senior), President Bush (junior) and various other political figures.

Greg Sandow, a UFO researcher that participates in discussion on the UFO UpDates email discussion list, had some knowledge of the relevant "alien", which he wrote about in a post on that list on 22 May 1997:

"“I do know a thing or two about the Weekly World News. I wrote a feature on it, got to know the editors, and even worked there for a week. … I went through the photo files one day, and found the outtakes from the alien/president photo shoots. What a pathetic alien -- you could see, in half the shots, flagrant cracks in the papier mache. Similarly, I doubt that intelligence agencies influence the paper's content. They'd hardly have to; as I've said, on a good day, the staff has an uproarious time thinking these things up.”

 

 

 

 

Sections below:

1. The relevant image

2. Stories and claims relating to this image

3. The real background to this image

4. Relevant online forum discussions

5. Further references and resources

6. Other material

 

 

1. The relevant image

 

 

 

 

2. Stories and claims relating to this image

Koi Alien Photo 24 appears to show an alien meeting President Bill Clinton. It appears on numerous websites.

 

3. The real background to this image

Koi Alien Photo 24 was first published on the front cover of the issue of the Weekly World News dated 11 August 1992 (under the headline "Alien Backs Clinton! Space Visitor Tells Democrats How to Rebuild U.S.
Economy!") and on several pages inside that issue. The Weekly World News was a satirical newspaper which appeared to take a delight in inventing the silliest stories it could create.

Greg Sandow, a UFO researcher that participates in discussion on the UFO UpDates email discussion list, had some knowledge of the relevant "alien", which he wrote about in a post on that list on 22 May 1997:

"“I do know a thing or two about the Weekly World News. I wrote a feature on it, got to know the editors, and even worked there for a week. … I went through the photo files one day, and found the outtakes from the alien/president photo shoots. What a pathetic alien -- you could see, in half the shots, flagrant cracks in the papier mache. Similarly, I doubt that intelligence agencies influence the paper's content. They'd hardly have to; as I've said, on a good day, the staff has an uproarious time thinking these things up.” 

 

The article in the the issue of Weekly World News dated 11 August 1992 included the following:


"Extraordinary summit -- at the Democratic National Convention!"
"Space alien endorses Bill Clinton"

By "Jack Alexander"
Staff Writer

A visiting space alien has made historic political news once again,
publicly supporting Democratic Party candidate Bill Clinton in his bid to
become the next president of the United States.

"They had a 40-minute discussion about our serious economic problems and
how to solve them," said a Clinton aide. "At the conclusion, the alien shook
Gov. Clinton's hand and said, 'With my help, you are the only man who can cure
this country's economic ills. I support you all the way.'"

The historic meeting took place in a guarded room at New York's Madison
Square Garden before Clinton was officially nominated as the party's can-
didate.

"I'm happy he saw through Bush and Ross Perot," Clinton said.

The two men from different worlds also discussed the environment, health
care, world peace and social issues, but the emphasis was on the economic
situation. "It was an extremely amicable meeting," said UFO expert Nathaniel
Dean, who is escorting the extraterrestrial across America and was present at
the meeting with Clinton.

"The alien is from a planet that has grown from tough economic beginnings
to become the most successful planet in the universe," Dean said. "He told
Clinton how they turned the economy around and created more jobs in a rela-
tively short period of time. It was obvious they liked and respected each
other. They shook hands warmly as Clinton thanked him for his support."

The same alien met with President Bush at Camp David in April of 1991 and
more recently with presidential dropout Ross Perot in Dallas, Tex. Both
meetings were reported in the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS.

Dean, who was contacted by the alien, first stunned the world in September
of 1990 with photos of the alien after he was captured in Virginia, and when
he escaped from a CIA compound in Washington three weeks later.

"I know for a fact our good friend from outer space came to the United
States solely to discuss issues with the three men who want, or in the case of
Perot, wanted, to lead our country," Dean said.


"With advanced space exploration proceeding rapidly, decisions made by a
U.S. president could drastically affect other planets."

Dean and a source close to Clinton, who asked to remain anonymous, said
Clinton's security personnel tried to restrain the alien from talking to the
Democratic standard-bearer.

"But Clinton insisted on talking to the guy," the source said. "He smiled,
shook the alien's hand and asked in his Arkansas drawl, "What's on your mind?"

The alien thanked the Arkansas governor for taking time from his busy
schedule to chat. He also congratulated Clinton for selecting Senator Albert
Gore Jr. as his running mate. "Gore is a strong believer in saving the Earth's
environment and apparently this extraterrestrial is, too," Dean said.

Reliable sources revealed the creature also sought trade concessions that
would benefit his home planet. "Clinton got many tips on how to solve the
country's social problems, and provide health insurance coverage for millions
of Americans who can't afford to get sick," Dean said. "And he seemed to be
listening carefully to what the alien had to say."

The history-making meetings between the alien and the three men raises
the American political process to a new level, a political analyst
observed.

"Our space friend offered all the technology and support America will need
in the years ahead to solve the difficult problems facing this country," Dean
said.

As expected, Clinton campaign aides denied that the meeting occurred.

"If you will recall, Bush aides also denied he met at Camp David with the
alien in 1991," Dean said.

"Later, the President admitted on national TV that he met with the alien,
but was surprised the incident was leaked to the press.'

Sources close to Perot revealed that the alien's endorsement of Clinton
figured prominently in the billionaire's decision to drop out of the race.

"The campaign was sputtering anyway," said one insider.

"The endorsement was the straw that broke the camel's back."

 

Clinton and the alien appeared in several other issues of the Weekly World News, including those pictured below (labelled "koi_ap_24_d" and "koi_ap_24_e"):

 

 

 

President Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton, did not escape the attentions of the Weekly World News. She featured on the front cover of the Weekly World News on 5 August 2003 under the headline "My steamy night with Hilday in UFO love nest. Space alien tells all - in shocking new book" (see photo below, labelled "koi_ap_24_g"). The relevant article (on pages 24 and 25 of that edition - see photos below labelled "koi_ap_24_h" and "koi_ap_24_i" respectively) included information purportedly provided by a space alien (named "P'lod"), supposedly to be revealed in his forthcoming book "Out of this world. My life as an alien in Washington".

The article claims that Hillary Clinton:

"is said to have found the spaceman's soaring intelligence and lofty morals a turn-on. What's more, she told pals that he displayed lovemaking techniques 'thousands of years in advance of any human male'".

 

 

 

 

 

President Clinton appeared to have a sense of humour about Koi Alien Photo 24 and posed with a copy of the relevant issue of the Weekly World News (see photo below labelled "koi_ap_24_c").

 

 

Greg Sandow, a UFO researcher that participates in discussion on the UFO UpDates email discussion list, had some knowledge of the relevant "alien", which he wrote about in a post on that list on 22 May 1997:

"“I do know a thing or two about the Weekly World News. I wrote a feature on it, got to know the editors, and even worked there for a week. … I went through the photo files one day, and found the outtakes from the alien/president photo shoots. What a pathetic alien -- you could see, in half the shots, flagrant cracks in the papier mache. Similarly, I doubt that intelligence agencies influence the paper's content. They'd hardly have to; as I've said, on a good day, the staff has an uproarious time thinking these things up.”

During 2010, I emailed Greg Sandow to seek further details. He kindly took the time to provide the further comments (below, email to Isaac Koi dated 23 December 2010) which included stating that

"It's amusing to be reminded of all this. And amusing, too, to think of people citing these photos on the web, as if (I gather from your email) they could be real.

Here's what I know. Like many people in the US in the 80s and 90s, I read the Weekly World News with a lot of enjoyment, not believing a word of what they wrote. In the '90s, when I worked for Entertainment Weekly magazine, I did a feature article on the WWN, which — given that EW is a major national magazine — will show you how prominent the WWN had gotten.

By doing the feature, I got friendly with the editors of the WWN, and they invited me to come down to Florida, where their office was, and work for them for a week. So I did it. I think they hoped I'd come to work for them permanently, but I wasn't thinking of that. Just thought I'd have some fun.

Which I did. Almost all the stories are made up. The exceptions were stories about peculiar items of human interest that had been reported in the US press — a man, let's say, with 15 wives. The paper might run that story, and might even do original reporting on it. There was an easy way to tell which stories in the paper were real and which were faked. The real ones had bylines from actual staff members (whose names could be seen on the paper's masthead). The fake ones were written by names you wouldn't find on the paper's stafff list, and which were completely made up. The photos that might run alongside those names were photos, often, of friends of WWN staff members, who contributed their photos for a small fee. When I did my week=long stint on the staff, I was asked to make up a name to use.

The editors of the paper would make up headlines. Hubble Space Telescope Photographs Heaven. Werewolf Captured by the FBI. Dinosaur Seen on California Highway. Woman Eaten by Her Own Fur Coat. And then staff writers (such as myself, that week) would be assigned to write the stories. We also made up small items on our own. My big triumph, during my week, was having the editors like one of my small items so much that they wanted it expanded into a full-length article. It was about a girl who could read two books at the same time, because she had two brains. Typically, we made this happen in Bulgaria. That's because in the story I made up, I quoted an imaginary scientist.

The rule at the WWN was that such people couldn't live in the English-speaking world, in case someone tried to contact them to verify the story. Similarly, when we wrote a story that took place in the US, and quoted imaginary Americans, we had to make sure the names of these people (which we'd made up) weren't listed in the telephone directory for the city where the people supposedly lived. Again, that was to make it impossible for anyone to find these people and check on the story.

I don't know anything about how the stories about the political alien were concocted, apart from what I wrote online about what I saw in the photo file. But I did watch a photo being concocted about the dinosaur on the California highway. I joined a group standing around a computer terminal, watching as two staff membered debated exactly where the phony dinosaur should be Photoshopped (as we'd say now) into the photo of the highway.

I could write a lot more about this, but I think you get the idea. These stories and photos are entirely imaginary, and even when they were quoted in the press, the editors of the WWN barely tried to pretend that they were real."

The article about "a girl who could read two books at the same time, because she had two brains" mentioned by Greg Sandow appeared in the 21 January 1997 edition of the Weekly World News (at page 6) and a copy appears below to illustrate the points made by Greg Sandow (labelled "koi_ap_19o").

 

 

4. Relevant online forum discussions

 

 

4. Relevant online forum discussions

5. Further references and resources

There is a rapid turnover of UFO material on the Internet. Many links to material on UFO websites quickly become out of date. Therefore, instead of giving many links to specific webpages I have instead included below a search box which can be used to search various leading UFO websites at the same time. You can then click on tabs at the top of the search results to list only results from forums, only results from websites I have labelled as "skeptical" etc. I have included tabs for a couple of specific websites that I find particularly useful, including the valuable archives of the UFO UpDates email discussion List. The relevant websites are all listed in the discussion of the "UFO Searchillion" search engine in Section 2.4 of the "Free UFO Researcher Starter Pack" and continues to evolve...

 

The relevant search box is one of the two main tools on this website which are intended to help reduce the amount of reinvention of the wheel within UFOlogy. The other main tool is the collection of tables of references to discussion of UFO incidents, personalities and other matters in various books. Those tables can be sorted by author, length and date. I hope these tools are useful.

 

 

6. Other Material

Please use the comments section below to share references to any particularly interesting relevant articles.