Six real-life ‘alien shut encounters’ – ‘yellow house fits’ to ‘unusual discharge’
The Daily Star revisits some of the world’s most wild real-life extraterrestrial ‘close encounters’ as we mark Alien Abduction Day – from ‘yellow space suits’ to ‘strange discharge’
One night in October 1957, Brazilian farmer Antônio Vilas-Boas was out working in the fields near São Francisco de Sales. He spotted a “red star” in the sky, which started moving towards him.
Antônio, then aged 23, said he tried to flee on his tractor when he realised it was actually an egg-shaped spacecraft. But he found himself surrounded by four humanoid creatures, each five feet tall and wearing grey coveralls.
They dragged him inside the craft, where they stripped him of clothing, covered him with gel and took a sample of his blood. He was then joined by a beautiful, naked female, who seduced him.
After they had sex, he was given a tour of the ship and dropped off back at his farm. Antônio later became a lawyer, married and had four kids, but stuck to his story until his death in 1991.
US: Betty and Barney Hill
In September 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were on their way home from a holiday in Niagara Falls. The couple, from New Hampshire, US, spotted a bright point of light in the sky and stopped their car for a closer look.
Peering through binoculars, Betty saw an “odd-shaped” craft heading rapidly towards them. Barney described seeing eight to 11 humanoid figures at the windows, wearing glossy black uniforms and black caps.
The terrified pair said they tried to drive away, but heard a strange beeping noise and fell into a daze. They woke up just outside the city of Concord, with no memory of the preceding three hours.
Betty noticed her dress was torn and covered in a strange, pinkish powder. Shiny, concentric circles had appeared on the boot of their car, which – when tested with a compass – caused the needle to whirl around rapidly.
Russia: Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Oligarch Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was the president of the Russian republic of Kalmykia from 1993 to 2010. He claims that in 1997, he was plucked from his Moscow balcony by a group of aliens in “yellow space suits”.
They took him on a joyride through space in a ship with “chambers the size of a large football pitch,” he says. “They wanted to demonstrate that UFOs do exist”.
The eccentric politician, 62, is also a chess champion, who insists the game was invented by extraterrestrials. He was president of the International Chess Federation for 23 years, until he was forced to step down in 2018 over alleged links to the Syrian government.
UK: Helen and Carol Thomas
On the morning of March 30 1988, Helen Thomas and mum Carol were on their way to work at a mill in Birmingham. As they turned down an alleyway, a blinding light shone down from above.
They began to feel dizzy and nauseous, they said. The next thing they knew, the light was gone and Helen’s leather jacket was soaking wet, even though the path beneath them was dry.
They arrived at work to find they were several hours late, with no idea where they had been. Over the next few weeks, they would both suffer nosebleeds, blistered skin and “strange discharge” from their navels.
Under hypnosis, they later described being taken to a “white room” by humanoid creatures who extracted their eggs.
Poland: Jan Wolski
In May 1978, farmer Jan Wolski was out driving a horse and cart in a field in Emilcin, Poland. Suddenly, he said, two “green-faced humanoid entities” jumped in next to him and started speaking in a strange language.
Jan drove them to a clearing, where a smooth, white craft the size of a bus was hovering. He was taken aboard, where he was met by two more aliens who gestured for him to undress.
They examined him with a tool that resembled two dishes or “saucers” before letting him go, he said. A memorial to Jan, who died aged 82 in 1990, now stands at the scene of the alleged abduction.
Italy: Pier Fortunato Zanfretta
Italian Pier Fortunato Zanfretta claims to have been abducted by aliens 11 times in three years. The first time, in December 1978, he was working as a night watchman in the village of Torriglia, Liguria.
Pier, now 72, says he was driving along an icy road when his engine, radio and lights simultaneously died. He spotted four lights moving around in the garden of an empty house and went over to investigate.
Rather than burglars, he found himself face-to-face with a group of beings 10 feet tall. They had yellow, triangular eyes and mottled, green skin that looked like they were wearing rumpled suits.
He called his supervisor, who heard him screaming before the radio went dead. Pier was later discovered unconscious and “in a state of shock”.
