On April 1, 1950, the German newspaper Neue Illustrierte published “Der Mars-Mensch” containing a photo depicting an alien captured alive that survived the Roswell UFO incident. Is the alien photo real?

False, on April 5, Neue Illustrierte stated in a news article that this was an April Fool’s joke. The captured alien is a hoax.

The newspaper writes under the alleged photo: “The big surprise: The Martian is… only 70 cm high. He was transferred to a special vacuum chamber. The War Department announced explicitly: It is in no way clear whether the being is from planet Mars. The only certainty is that they are of planetary origin, that is, they come from another planet in our solar system or a neighboring star. “Our Pictures”, continues the War Department, “are the only real images, we warn against cheap fakes that have been circulating in the world press.””

The April Fool’s news publication features five bizarre photography and a light-hearted story. The alien photo is printed at the bottom right.

Alien

The alien has been identified as the dance skater James Lidstone. The boots the alien is wearing look like rollerblades boots. The alleged hoax photo appeared in a 1967 FBI report (archived), page 140, in stunning poor condition.

UFO

The flying disc is borrowed from a model UFO made by doctor E.W. Kay that appeared in the press four months earlier.

Clues

April 5, 1950, Neue Illustrierte made the confession that this was an April Fool’s day joke.

The headline: “April! April!“

“The Neue Illustrierte, in its April Number of March 29, played some jokes to its readers: The Landing of Martians on page 3 is a fantasy. Sergeant D. Ussel (Dussel) does not exist. The Martian was an artist of the skater’s group The Lidstones,” the newspaper continued.

April 1 should already be a giveaway. The name Sergeant D. Ussel is also a hint. When you put D. Ussel together you get “Dussel”. This means Sucker or Fool in German language.