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The Car: solar-powered

When he reached Alaska earlier this week, a concerned citizen apparently thought the invasion had begun. The person spotted Marcelo diving around and promptly called 911 to report a UFO sighting.

I’m gonna file this one in the “Really?!” folder. Marcelo da Luz has been driving his Xof1 (short for “power of one”) across North America in an attempt to set the world distance record for a solar-powered car.

Alaskan police quickly chased the Canadian solar pioneer down–the Xof1′s max speed of 75 mph should have been their first clue as to what they were seeing–and after a quick interrogation, they promptly let him go.

This is actually the seventh time Marcel has been pulled over while driving this thing, according to Newlaunches.com. Why am I surprised by this? I don’t know. I guess I just can’t believe that someone mistook this obviously land-based vehicle for a flying saucer. Perhaps I need to get away from my sheltered, high-tech, green San Francisco life.