The IT world was electrified this morning at reports that MS Explorer was foundering and expected to sink without trace shortly, possibly due to a UFO attack.

Alternative theories suggested that the well-known piece of kit - described by the Daily Mail as "one of the best-known... in the world" - had suffered disabling crashes and freezes after a risky attempt to move into new areas exposed previously unknown vulnerabilites.

The company behind MS Explorer issued a statement saying that it was in severe trouble after collision with "an unknown object... Explorer’s [attributes] allow... access [to] places that other [technical platforms] can not visit and she has set many other firsts... passengers and crew have taken to the lifeboats... the captain and his first officer are still aboard ..."

At least one news outlet chose the headline:

Explorer listing badly after hitting UFO

Oh, all right then. It's Motor Ship (or Motor Vessel) Explorer which is sinking in the Antarctic, not Microsoft's business model or anything. And it's an unidentified floating object, possibly an iceberg - though the ship had been doing ice cruises for a long time, so it might well have been a floating container or some such.

Everyone's all right, apparently. Including Cap'n Bill and First Mate Ballmer, who is no doubt busy rearranging the deckchairs. ®

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