PESCARA, Italy — Two senior citizens paid out more than $367,000 for uranium to feed an extraterrestrial doctor they had been told would cure their ailments.

Police said three tricksters persuaded the women that the alien, called Sagyr, could cure them provided he was given uranium for nourishment.

Having failed to spot any improvement in their infirmity, they decided to call police. The trio was jailed Friday by a court in this central Italian city. A judged ordered a sentence of 30 months in prison and a fine.

Copyright 1997 Houston Chronicle News Services