Weekly World News

Weekly World News (WWN), founded in 1979 in the United States as a spin-off of the National Enquirer, is a civilian tabloid specializing in fictional, sensational stories. It focused on absurd, fabricated narratives including alien encounters, UFOs, Bat Boy, Bigfoot, and Elvis sightings, using content too bizarre for mainstream outlets. Key activities involved publishing weekly editions with hoax articles on paranormal events, time travel, and apocalyptic predictions until print cessation in 2007. In UAP/UFO contexts, WWN published a 1993 story on aliens petrifying Soviet soldiers after a UFO shootdown, later summarized in a declassified CIA document from KGB sources, though treated as unreliable fiction. No notable achievements in legitimate research or government programs; it influenced satire and pop culture. Currently defunct in print, with legacy online.