People left disappointed after an NYT article about watermelons on Mars turns out to be fake

A New York Times article claiming that a whole load of watermelons were found in space turned out to be fake and people are disappointed.

The article, which said the melons were creating a “rise in fruit aliens”, now links to a statement saying it was published in error and appears to have been made to test the publication’s content management system.

“Earlier today, a mock article intended for a testing system was published on our site in error,” a spokesperson for The New York Times told HuffPost. “The article has since been removed,” they added.

In case you want a taste of the melony action, an archived copy of the story was found and it contained key lines such as:

“The FBI declined to comment on reports of watermelons raining down but confirmed that kiwis have been intercepted. This story is terribly boring.”

And:

“Watermelon taste good, police say.”

Hard-hitting journalism, then.

But reacting to the publication’s clarification, people were disappointed that it wasn’t real:

What a shame. Still, seems that the team at the New York Times know how to make testing an article fun.