‘Earth must be warned!’: Did astronaut really scream warning before suicide attempt?

Did a French astronaut really scream, ‘Earth must be warned,’ before attempting suicide – at the same moment a mysterious fire burnt down her laboratory?

A YouTube video with a million views makes this shock claim – but it’s really a testament to the power of fake news (and the fact that UFO fans ‘want to believe’).

Using the classic robot voice beloved of conspiracy fans, the video mangles fact and fiction.

Yes, a French astronaut did attempt suicide (in 2008), but the rest is made up and reappears every so often on conspiracy forums, such as David Icke’s website.

The video says: ‘She had to be forcefully restrained after screaming “Earth must be warned”.

‘More ominously, her laboratory where she worked at the forefront of human/alien DNA research, was destroyed by fire.’

The video sounds convincing because it quotes real reports from news agency AFP but they’re taken out of context, with additional information.

And there is no such thing as ‘human/alien DNA research’, simply because we have never encountered any aliens.