The Alabama Tinfoil Alien

Aliens come in all shapes and sizes, from the little green men of Kelly, Kentucky, to the 10-foot-tall giants of Voronezh, Russia. There has always been discussion about the close encounters of the third kind aliens.

Some of these seem to be living, breathing beings, and yet some appear to have characteristics of a robot. One theory readily accepted by investigators is that many of the UFO sightings are of “scout” ships who take exploratory journeys to our planets surface, while a mother ship hovers somewhere out of sight.

Many propose that these scout ships are occupied by a robotic, mechanical being. These would be expendable in carrying out experimentation on unwilling humans, and also on our flora and animal kingdom.

Many of the earlier stories of alien sightings are “sensationalized,” to say the least. But sticking to my own rule of evaluating each case on its own merits, one report which seems to have some merit occurred in Falkville, Alabama, on October 17, 1973.

This case is unique in some respects, most notably the alien seems to have attributes of both of the above descriptions: a robot looking creature with the running gait of our most talented athletes.

This strange account began when Falkville, Alabama police chief Jeff Greenhaw (that is correct, there is no s after the n), received a phone call from an excited lady who said that she had witnessed a “spaceship” land in an open field not far the town proper.

Greenhaw took off like a shot, taking along his trusty Polaroid camera. Dark had fallen several hours earlier, and the police chief was armed for anything. It would be about 10:00 P.M. when he made it to the location of the alleged landing.

After a cursory look around, he found no trace of a spaceship. As Greenhaw continued his search of the area, he was taken aback by the sight of an alien-like creature standing just off the side of the road.

The being appeared to be wrapped in aluminum foil as it began to walk toward Greenhaw.

“It looked like his head and neck were kind of made together… he was real bright, something like rubbing mercury on nickel, but just as smooth as glass; different angles give different lighting. I don’t believe it was aluminum foil.”

The tinfoil alien’s movements were very “mechanical” like. An antenna was attached to his head. Though in shock, he managed to snap off four pictures of the odd looking alien. When he flicked on his headlights the alien was obviously frightened, as it began to make its escape.

Greenhaw immediately took off in his truck in pursuit, but because of the rough terrain of the field, he was only able to manage 35 MPH. The robotic movements of the alien were now in high gear and it raced across the open field.

Greenhaw could not keep up, and the tinfoil being escaped into the night.

“He was running faster than any human I ever saw,” he stated.

Although Greenhaw was exhilarated by the strange encounter, he would soon regret the whole affair. He was mocked and ridiculed by many of the town folk, and he received threatening phone calls.

A string of bad luck began to affect his life also. Whether related to his report or not, his house burned down, and his wife left him.

Approximately a month after the incident, the town council fired him. So much for the theory that reports of many UFO encounters are made by individuals who are looking for notoriety or financial gain.

Greenhaw would eventually regain some semblance of a normal life, but he would always regret the night he met the tin foil alien.

(written by B J Booth, 2002)