A photo on social media of the 'flying Egyptian Monster'
The inventor of the Egyptian Monster said his "flying amphibious car" did not simply fail in its launch at Cairo's Tahrir Square last month, but was rather sabotaged by one of two pranksters now accused of insulting policemen in a controversial "balloon condom" incident.Self-proclaimed engineer Ahmed El-Bandary, whose four-wheeled invention is almost the size of an auto rickshaw (tuk-tuk) and has two tiny wings near the tail, did not take off when it was put through its paces. As a matter of fact, it broke down after roaming slowly near Egypt's largest roundabout. Bystanders gave it a push to help the diver restart the engine.
In the presence of police personnel and reporters who interviewed El-Bandary as he was bragging about how the vehicle can reach speeds of 400 km/h and 120 km/h in air and water respectively, young comedian Shady AbuZaid joined the crowd.
Impersonating a reporter, he made a video for well-known satire show Abla Fahita, mocking what widely came across as a hilarious hoax.
AbuZaid hit the headlines again in less than a month after going back to Tahrir, the epicentre of the 25 January Revolution, on its fifth anniversary to make another video that saw him and up-and-coming actor Ahmed Malek hand out balloons that were actually inflated condoms to policemen.
The video went viral on social media, prompting uproar among police sympathisers and support among some other activists who have few avenues to express their views.
On Tuesday, Egypt's prosecution opened an investigation into a complaint filed by a police officer following "inflated condom" prank.
Later in the day, El-Bandary defended the authenticity of his alleged flying amphibious car by saying it was the now under-fire AbuZaid who caused its failure. "The Egyptian Monster only failed in Tahrir Square because of someone," he said, phoning in during presenter Mohamed El-Gaity's show on LTC TV.
"What some people do not know is that the Egyptian Monster contains 20 electric motors … producing electricity. This vile [AbuZaid] is the one who disconnected the electricity."
"He shouldn't have malfunctioned an international work like that," El-Bandary said as El-Gaity was nodding his head in agreement.
El-Gaity, who once falsely claimed Egyptian frogmen had managed to capture the captain of an American battleship sent to Egypt in response to the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, voiced his support for the Egyptian Monster inventor.
"Remember when [renowned political satirist] Bassem Youssef poked fun at attempts of inventing a Hepatitis C cure… They have hatred for the Egyptian military," El-Gaity commented.
In February 2014, physician and military officer Major-General Ibrahim Abdel-Atti made headlines when he announced that he and his staff had invented devices to detect and treat HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, among other viruses and diseases, with a 100 percent success rate. The alleged cure, however, was never made available to the public as promised.
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Source: Balloon condoms prankster blamed for malfunction of flying 'Egyptian Monster'
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