A number of Indian school children have disappeared on a trip to NASA, according to media reports.

Initial reports said two teenagers were missing from a trip by students from the Dayanand Model School, amid claims the students had a “well thought out plan” to disappear into the US. By Saturday the number of missing students had climbed to four. By Monday it was up to six students and a teacher.

The Times of India says the student’s visas are valid till September, meaning that apart from annoying their teachers they haven’t broken the law yet. The Times also introduces us to the term ‘kabootarbaazi’, for cheating immigration.

An editorial in the Times notes:

It doesn’t take rocket science for Indians to disappear in the US. Or does it? In fact, such is the craze for settling abroad that they keep devising new ways to do so — from joining “bhajan mandlis” or cultural troupes to jumping into containers and even entering into fraudulent marriages.

The latest in the long list of their tricks is taking the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) route.

Maybe they’re hiding in the mysterious trailer which photographer Richard Harrington discovered (trailer photo site, pick up).

Hat tip: NASA Watch