Was Paul the Octopus Truly Paul?

by Liz Colville

Paul the psychic octopus, who charmed the world by predicting World Cup scores, died “peacefully in his sleep” yesterday in his tank in Germany. But a conspiracy theory about Paul has arisen, and in fact has been risen for several months, long enough for a woman named Jiang Xiao to start filming a thriller about it.

Xiao thinks that the real Paul died two days before the World Cup final and was conveniently replaced by his handlers. The Germans today responded to this accusation with “polite bafflement.” As for the film, its working title is, naturally, “Who Killed Paul the Octopus?” and Xiao says it is “about unveiling the inside story behind the octopus miracle.” Righty-o. [Via]