Russian Officials To Investigate Regional President's Alien Abduction Claims

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."

Comments

Re:It's Always the Chess Players

[Abcd1234]

Two is a significant sample if we're talking about the number of "high profile chess players" in the world.

Really? Could you provide a statistical backing for that claim? Because I *strongly* suspect "two" isn't a significant enough sample to extract a trend in any moderately sized population.

Re:I don't think it works that way, though

[inKubus]

Actually, overuse of neurons can cause them to inflame and die. That's one of the major causes of Alzheimer's. So, perhaps chess players lack some of the regulating feedback systems that most normal people have. This enables their brains to work at a higher "clock speed" than most, but it also could cause the death of brain cells at a much faster rate. But you're right, for "most people", brain activity exercises the brain and keeps the synapse connections working and is good for your mental health.