Scientists are making small “handheld” nuclear reactors to try and lure aliens to Earth, an expert has claimed.

According to Kevin Knuth, Professor of Physics at the University at Albany, United States, the experimental idea is already being created as boffins ramp up efforts to bring extra-terrestrial beings to our planet.

And in an idea that couldn't go wrong no matter how hard they try, the Professor told an audience that the handheld mini-nukes are already being patented. He said: “We were trying to figure out how we can lure UFOs and work out how to make contact.

“We settled on the fact that UFOs have an interest in, and an ability to detect nuclear weapons – some of them underground, some of them in bunkers or in storage depots.

“How do they do this? Are they using neutrinos, which are really hard to detect, or gamma rays? We don't know. But my colleague has developed a new technology which is basically a handheld lithium-powered nuclear-fission reactor, which he is now patenting.

“The idea is to go out and power our UFO-observing equipment with the nuclear reaction, and maybe these guys will detect it and come down and find out what 'those crazy monkeys' are up to this time. And we can get some imagery or some data . . . that's our plan.”

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