A dad sparked panic among holidaymakers after his eerie photos of plants on a beach were mistaken for 'monsters' or 'aliens from War of the Worlds' crawling out of the sea.
Jan Vorster shared his photos of dead aloe vera plants lining the beach of his hometown in Still Bay, Western Cape, South Africa, on social media.
The 62-year-old's innocent attempt to raise awareness about damage to the environment took a drastic turn when viewers mistook the dried-out plant life for horrifying sea monsters.
The photos, which were taken at sunrise and sunset to create an eerie effect, caused immediate panic after they were first uploaded on Facebook.
The farm worker claims that he was surprised to see a slew of comments from confused viewers who feared being attacked or poisoned by the mysterious alien beings.
Some of those panicking then reacted angrily once it emerged that they were simply aloe plants lining the beach and even accused Jan of misleading them.
Jan said: "I thought I could use this as a metaphor for how people see these plants as aliens, but we are actually the two-legged aliens messing up their world. That was the idea.
"The comments started immediately. Then it was shared like you can't believe.
"I was surprised [by the reaction]. I thought that people would have fun with it, but then it was very serious, some of it was extremely serious.
"A lot of people were scared of these alien-looking sea monsters. It was like Jaws - is it safe to go into the water?
"People kept asking me when they [the creatures] were coming out, and if they were only coming out at night."
The internet hysterics only grew worse after Jan uploaded an image a few days showing the aloe plants coming out of a nearby river at sunrise.
Jan claims that one scared viewer was quick to contact him asking if the creatures were now coming out in the daytime too, whilst a second feared that the 'monsters' were present in the rivers as well as the oceans.
In an attempt to subdue the panic, the father of one named the figures 'Aloeferoxes' in reference to the indigenous plant - however, people were still unconvinced.
Followers of the aloe-induced chaos eventually sent the images to be inspected by an environmental scientist, who confirmed that the looming shapes were not at all dangerous to humans.
However, Jan is undeterred by the unexpected reaction to his unique photography and is still keen to keep working on similar projects.
Jan said: "People Googled the aloe ferox and couldn't put two and two together.
"They kept saying, 'Please help us, because this is not a plant. This can't be a plant'.
"[Some people said] that I misled them, and that I should be crucified for that. But lots of people have had a lot of fun.
"I learned a lot about social media. It's [just] a picture, I didn't expect this to happen and for the reaction to be so big.
"But I've learned a lot and I'm very motivated to continue with Aloeferoxes and keep focusing on nature related issues."
Despite the scientific debunk, Jan claims that the internet hysteria is still ongoing, and that he continues to receive messages from holidaymakers who fear that the beach is unsafe.
An image of Jan's Aloeferoxes were shared by a South African Facebook page on November 30, where it racked up more than 2,000 likes, comments and shares.
One user said: "Just wanted to cancel my vacation. Because of things like this, I don't swim. I'm already scared of a shark."
A second said: "They look like some alien thing from War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise."
A third said: "Please go back into the ocean."
Another added: "Are you serious? Holy moly... scary."
Some even became angry at Jan for 'scaring the public'.
One wrote: "Aliens are scary things. If it's not true, don't scare the public."
Another said: "Never seen those before in all the years living on the coast. Maybe they're only in Cape waters."
A third said: "Omg I wouldn't even stay to try and see what it is. I would run like hell."
