A MYSTERIOUS flying object said to attack sleeping villagers has sparked mass hysteria and rioting across the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. 

                    Police shot dead one man and injured 12 others when a mob of hundreds stormed the police station in Barabanki, demanding protection against what they believe is an alien assailant terrorising villages. 

                    The object, described as a flying sphere emitting red and blue light, is said to strike in the middle of the night,  leaving victims with burns or scratches on their faces and limbs, and earning it the name the muhnochwa (face-scratcher). 

                    At least seven unexplained deaths in the area have
been attributed to the muhnochwa, sparking panic among villagers who blame police for not providing enough protection. 

                    Officials have suggested a raft of explanations, from an alien invasion to a new and unknown breed of insect. 

                    Perhaps the most bizarre theory was that of Police Deputy Inspector General K. N. D. Dwivedi, who said that the assailant was a genetically engineered insect introduced by “anti-national elements” from outside India to cause mayhem. 

                    In common Indian parlance, this is taken to mean that it was the work of the Pakistani spy agency, the universal scapegoat for all unexplained Indian woes. That theory has not won over many believers. 

                    Villagers across the region no longer sleep outside, as they usually do during the sweltering summer heat and long power failures, fearing that they will be easy prey for the muhnochwa. 

                    In some villages the entire population are squeezing into the headman’s house for the night, seeking shelter and safety in numbers. 

                    Having lost faith in the police, villagers have formed nocturnal protection squads. 

                    In Shanwa village, where the attacks are said to have started, men patrol all night, banging drums and shouting slogans to frighten off intruders, such as:  “Everyone be alert. Attackers beware.” 

                    Residents have dismantled television aerials and taken satellite dishes down from their roofs, fearing that they may attract the mysterious object. Even radios have  fallen silent at night under selfimposed blackout. 

                    The Times of India reported that the national  intelligence bureau was sufficiently concerned to send its own agents, like Mulder and Scully from television’s X-Files, to investigate the “alien” invasion. 

                    After listening to villagers’ descriptions of the muhnochwa, the agents constructed their own replica from the base of a mixer-grinder, fitted with coloured lights, and hoisted it onto a pole in an attempt to entice the extraterrestrial. Then they waited. 

                    At 1.05am they were rewarded with a flash of light “like a photocopier”, which repeated three times. A videotape was said to show a flash of light passing across the screen. The agents concluded that the villagers were right and that they were indeed experiencing an extra-terrestrial invasion. 

                    Local doctors, however, have dismissed the phenomenon as mass hysteria, saying that most of the injuries have been self-inflicted by panicked villagers, evoking memories of the “monkey man” hysteria in Delhi last year. 

                    At least three people died jumping from roofs and dozens more were injured during the mystery simian’s two-week reign of terror before officials dismissed it as a mass delusion and sightings petered out. 

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- An agricultural plague has descended on central Florida this summer. Four-inch-long grasshoppers, immune to conventional pesticides once they're grown and too  toxic to be eaten by natural predators, are swelling in numbers due to a dry winter and a return to normal rainfall this summer.

The grasshoppers, known as Eastern lubbers, are usually held in check by lack of food or water, parasites and insect diseases.  The lubbers can jump high and long. When disturbed, they spread their wings and hiss. They also eject a foul-smelling, irritating foam when touched.

"Lubbers seem to like a wet environment," said John Capinera, chairman of the University of Florida's Department of Entomology.

No predator finds lubbers tasty. Biologists think they are poison to birds, said Capinera, author of "Grasshoppers of Florida," a field guide published last year. Lubbers eat almost any plant in sight but favor shrubs, herbs, broadleaf plants and grasses. If their numbers get out of control, they can cause significant crop damage, including to young citrus trees.

Alice McKinstry Davis, curator of the Eustis Historical Museum and Preservation Society, first saw the latest wave of lubbers munching on a flower garden outside the museum a few weeks ago. Alarmed, she called experts for help. "About all you can do is hit them with a 2-by-4," advised Pris Peterson,  master gardener at the Lake County Agricultural Center.

                    A NAKED performance artist is to cut his stomach and invite an audience to look at the wound at an arts festival backed by £65,000 of public money. 

                    Franko B, an Italian-born Londoner, is appearing in Fierce!, the annual festival of performance art, in the West Midlands this month. Funding has come from bodies including the Arts Council and West Midlands Arts, sparking accusations that public money is being put to absurd uses. 

                    In a previous work, the artist had two taps inserted into veins in his arms and bled on to a piece of canvas. 

                    This time he will make an incision of up to 10cm across his stomach, causing a superficial wound, from which blood will trickle during the six-hour “performance”. A doctor will ensure that the wound does not heal until the show is over. 

                    The audience will be invited to file into the room one by one, each spending a couple of minutes with the artist. 

                    Mark Ball, the festival’s director, said: “He is an artist whose main canvas is his own body and whose main material is his own blood. 

                    “By presenting himself in a naked and vulnerable state, Franko’s getting audiences to reexamine their own notions of what’s beautiful and what’s suffering.” 

                    He refused to disclose how much Mr B was being paid.  “It’s between me and Franko and reflects the work he does.” 

                    Robin Simon, Editor of the British Art Journal, said: “The idea of looking at his open tummy is not particularly shocking. What really hurts me is that public money has been thrown away on something so absurd.” 

                    Tim Yeo, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: “It’s difficult to judge things without having seen them, but . . . this sounds absolutely absurd.”