Atom smashers’ prank human sacrifice video sparks investigation

A prank video of a human sacrifice is being investigated by officials at CERN, home to the world’s largest particle accelerator. The scene appears to have been staged in front of a statue of the Hindu deity Shiva on display at the European Organization for Nuclear Research complex. It shows hooded people in a courtyard before the cape of one woman is lifted off her shoulders. After she lies down, a hooded person approaches and appears to stab her with a knife. An off-camera voice reacts with an expletive.

CERN welcomes every year thousands of scientific users from all over the world and sometimes some of them let their humour go too far. This is what happened on this occasion

CERN spokeswoman

Scientists pour in to the complex near Geneva from around the world for round-the-clock work at CERN’s accelerators including its renowned large hadron collider. CERN announced an internal investigation, calling the video “a work of fiction showing a contrived scene”. A spokeswoman added: “These scenes were filmed on our premises but without official permission or knowledge. CERN does not condone this type of spoof, which can give rise to misunderstandings about the scientific nature of our work.”

If it’s real, that’s horrible, if it’s a staged ritual, that’s equally bad.

‘Richie from Boston’, who uploaded the video to YouTube

CERN