“Scared of These Alien-Looking Sea Monsters”: Bizarre Photo Sparked Fear in the Swimming Community in 2022

Scared of aliens? Are they your worst nightmare? Well, then you shouldn’t go swimming at this particular beach in South Africa. At least that is what people thought when they first saw pictures that a man named Jan Vorster posted in a group on Facebook. However, he later clarified that these were not aliens at all, but something that is completely safe and posed no harm to humankind. Well then, what was it?

Turns out, Vorster was simply trying to put out a public service announcement as a caution for the degrading environment. But it scared people to no end.

People Want to Never go Swimming after Looking at this Picture

The gist of the incident is- a South African man named Jan Vorster gathered some dead aloe vera plants and lined them up on the beach as a commentary on the dying mother nature. He did so at a beach in Still Bay, Western Cape. What started with good-intentioned satire, ended up becoming a nightmare for beach-goers. According to New York Post, Vorster said, “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.”

He then went on to add, “A lot of people were scared of these alien-looking sea monsters. It was like ‘Jaws’ — is it safe to go into the water?” The idea that Vorster had was to make people realize how their actions were adversely affecting the environment. He 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.”

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However, his plan backfired as people were hysterical. Some reactions to the photo, in hindsight, are downright hilarious.

Masses React to the Ultimate Scare

One viewer claimed, “Just wanted to cancel my vacation. Because of things like this, I don’t swim. I’m already scared of a shark.” Some people were terrified. “Are you serious? Holy moly… scary.” Others pleaded with the “aliens” to go back to where they came from. “Please go back into the ocean.”

Some also claimed that these creatures were right out of a movie. “They look like some alien thing from War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise.” Vorster tried to calm the viewers down by explaining that it was a plant. However, they were simply not ready to listen. “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.‘”

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People were scared enough to ask for a second opinion, and environmental scientists finally confirmed that they were simply dead plants not harmful to humans. Will you dare to go swimming at this beach if you saw these creatures there?

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