Chinese farmer arrested over alien hoax

This is the "alien" a Chinese farmer claimed he electrocuted to death three months ago after finding it on the bank of the Yellow River.

The man, identified as Li from eastern China's Shandong province, posted about the encounter on his blog.

It soon became an Internet hit.

But on Wednesday the hoax was officially up after Li admitted that he had built the extraterrestrial with wire ropes and bone glue.

After interrogation, Li confessed he got his inspiration from a Hollywood movie.

(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) MAN ACCUSED OF MAKING A FAKE ALIEN AND SPREADING FALSE RUMOURS ONLINE, WHO IDENTIFIED HIMSELF BY HIS SURNAME LI, SAYING (SOUNDBITE OVERLAID WITH SHOT NO. 10):

"I watched the movie 'Paul'. I liked Paul -- the alien in the movie -- very much. So I created my own version based on Paul the character."

Li is being held in detention for five days on charges of fabricating lies and disrupting normal social order.