This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

The ripples from Joe Biden's outlandish – and outrageous – suggestion his uncle, lost in a plane crash during World War II, was eaten by cannibals on New Guinea, continue to spread.

And not in a good way.

Biden, 81, who has a well-earned reputation for verbal stumbles, flubs and blunders, this week claimed, "He got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea."

Actually records show the uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, was lost when the airplane in which he was a passenger, lost power and crashed into the ocean in that region.

Biden's claims since have been the subject of widespread debunking and ribald talk-show levity.

Now the Daily Mail is documenting that academics in Papua New Guinea are not amused by Biden's claims.

The report said, "Outraged Papua New Guinea academics have slammed President Joe Biden for his 'unacceptable' suggestion that his uncle was eaten by cannibals in the country after his plane was shot down during World War II."

It continued, "Historically, cannibalism has been reported Papua New Guinea, the Pacific nation that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, but local academics say Biden's categorization of the act is 'very offensive.'"

Michael Kabuni, described in the report as a political science lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea, explained to The Guardian cannibalism existed, but in very specific contexts.

They "wouldn't just eat any white men that fell from the sky," the report said.

Others charged Biden's comments were "unsubstantiated and poorly judged" and "unacceptable."

The report noted economics lecturer Maholopa Laveil agreed with Kabuni, explaining Bien was painting the island "in a bad light."

"PNG has already had a lot of negative press around riots and tribal fighting and this doesn't help, and [the claims are] unsubstantiated," he said.

WND has reported that among many of Biden's tall tales, this one ranks among the tallest.

Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley noted that Biden "has been long accused of false stories that have ranged from an invented arrest with Nelson Mandela to a zombie-like train conductor." But he said the new one "stood out."

"President Biden suggested that his uncle Ambrose 'Bozey' Finnegan may have been eaten by cannibals in World War II. What is striking about this story is the specificity of the key facts … and the fact that they are entirely false (other than his uncle dying near New Guinea)."

Turley did the research and reported the facts: "The more glaring problem is that Bozey was not flying a plane and was not shot down. It was not a single engine plane but a Douglas A-20 Havoc with two Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior 9-cylinder radial engines. He was not the pilot but a passenger on a plane. (Indeed, he was not referenced in the official report as a pilot but a staffer at the Headquarters of the Fifth Air Force). The plane had mechanical problems and crashed near New Guinea. He did not disappear in a sea of cannibals but the actual sea when he and other passengers failed to get out of the wreckage."