The Daily Star has appointed what it describes as the world’s first dedicated extraterrestrial affairs correspondent to cover “the biggest beat in journalism” – space.

The appointment came as the Star launched an online content series entitled Spaced Out, with exclusive interviews with the likes of magician Uri Geller and Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder about their alien encounters.

The Star’s “Interstellar Parliamentary Lobby member” Michael Moran (pictured) told Press Gazette: “What I’m doing is a balancing act. It’s about not being so silly that people don’t take it seriously and not being so dry that people don’t want to read us.”