Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox mythical creature Template:Paranormal
Grey aliens, also referred to as Zeta Reticulans, Roswell Greys, or simply, Greys,Template:Efn are purported extraterrestrial beings. They are frequent subjects of close encounter and alien abduction claims, the details of which vary widely. Greys are typically described as having small, humanoid bodies, smooth, grey skin, proportionately large, hairless heads, and large, black, almond-shaped eyes. The Barney and Betty Hill abduction claim, which purportedly took place in New Hampshire in 1961, popularized Grey aliens.<ref name="Hill-obit">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="DenofGeek">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Precursor figures have been described in science fiction and similar descriptions appeared in later accounts of the 1947 Roswell UFO incident and early accounts of the 1948 Aztec UFO hoax.
The Grey alien has emerged as an archetypal image of an intelligent non-human creature and extraterrestrial life in general, as well as an iconic trope of popular culture in the age of space exploration.
DescriptionEdit
AppearanceEdit
Greys are typically depicted as grey-skinned, diminutive humanoid beings that possess reduced forms of, or completely lack, external human body parts such as noses, ears, or sex organs.<ref name="AliensAndHybrids">Jacobs, David M. "Aliens and Hybrids." In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press. Pp. 86–90. Template:ISBN</ref> Their bodies are usually depicted as being elongated, having a small chest, and lacking in muscular definition and visible skeletal structure. Their legs are depicted as being shorter and jointed differently from humans with limbs proportionally different from a human.<ref name="AliensAndHybrids" />
Greys are depicted as having unusually large heads in proportion to their bodies with no hair on the body, and no noticeable outer ears or noses, sometimes with small openings or orifices for ears, nostrils, and mouths. In drawings, Greys are almost always shown with very large, opaque, black eyes, without eye whites. They are frequently described as shorter than average adult humans.<ref name="SmithLGM">Template:Cite book</ref>
Association with Zeta ReticuliEdit
The association between Grey aliens and Zeta Reticuli originated with the interpretation of a map drawn by Betty Hill by a school-teacher named Marjorie Fish sometime in 1969.<ref name="AstroHalloween">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Betty Hill, under hypnosis, had claimed to have been shown a map that displayed the aliens' home system and nearby stars.<ref name="SaganDemon" /> Upon learning of this, Fish attempted to create a model from a drawing produced by Hill, eventually determining that the stars marked as the aliens' home were Zeta Reticuli, a binary star system.<ref name="AstroHalloween" />
HistoryEdit
OriginsEdit
In literature, descriptions of beings similar to Gray aliens predate claims of supposed encounters with them. In 1893, H. G. Wells presented a description of humanity's future appearance in the article "The Man of the Year Million", describing humans as having no mouths, noses, or hair, and with large heads. In 1895, Wells also depicted the Eloi, a successor species to humanity, in similar terms in the novel The Time Machine. Both share many characteristics with future perceptions of Grays.<ref name="LevyMendlesohn2019" />
As early as 1917, the occultist Aleister Crowley described a meeting with a "preternatural entity" named Lam that was similar in appearance to a modern Grey. Crowley believed he had contacted the entity through a process that he called the "Amalantrah Workings," which he thought allowed humans to contact beings from outer space and across dimensions. Other occultists and ufologists, many of whom have retroactively linked Lam to later Grey encounters, have since described their own visitations from him, with one describing the being as a "cold, computer-like intelligence," and utterly beyond human comprehension.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1933, the Swedish novelist Gustav Sandgren, using the pen name Gabriel Linde, published a science fiction novel called Den okända faran (The Unknown Danger), in which he describes a race of extraterrestrials who wore clothes made of soft grey fabric and were short, with big bald heads, and large, dark, gleaming eyes. The novel, aimed at young readers, included illustrations of the imagined aliens. This description would become the template upon which the popular image of grey aliens is based.<ref name="LevyMendlesohn2019">Template:Cite book</ref>
Barney and Betty Hill abductionEdit
The conception remained a niche one until 1965, when newspaper reports of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction made the archetype famous.<ref name="SaganDemon">Template:Cite book</ref> The alleged abductees, Betty and Barney Hill, claimed that in 1961, humanoid alien beings with grayish skin had abducted them and taken them to a flying saucer.<ref name="SaganDemon"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In his 1990 article "Entirely Unpredisposed", Martin Kottmeyer suggested that Barney's memories revealed under hypnosis might have been influenced by an episode of the science-fiction television show The Outer Limits titled "The Bellero Shield", which was broadcast 12 days before Barney's first hypnotic session. The episode featured an extraterrestrial with large eyes, who says, "In all the universes, in all the unities beyond the universes, all who have eyes have eyes that speak." The report from the regression featured a scenario that was in some respects similar to the television show. In part, Kottmeyer wrote:
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Wraparound eyes are an extreme rarity in science fiction films. I know of only one instance. They appeared on the alien of an episode of an old TV series The Outer Limits entitled "The Bellero Shield." A person familiar with Barney's sketch in "The Interrupted Journey" and the sketch done in collaboration with the artist David Baker will find a "frisson" of "déjà vu" creeping up his spine when seeing this episode. The resemblance is much abetted by an absence of ears, hair, and nose on both aliens. Could it be by chance? Consider this: Barney first described and drew the wraparound eyes during the hypnosis session dated 22 February 1964. "The Bellero Shield" was first broadcast on 10 February 1964. Only twelve days separate the two instances. If the identification is admitted, the commonness of wraparound eyes in the abduction literature falls to cultural forces.{{#if:Martin KottmeyerEntirely Unpredisposed: The Cultural Background of UFO Reports<ref name="Magonia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Carl Sagan echoed Kottmeyer's suspicions in his 1997 book, The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, where Invaders from Mars was cited as another potential inspiration.<ref name="SaganDemon" />
Diffusion into folkloreEdit
After the Hills' encounter, Greys would go on to become an integral part of ufology and other extraterrestrial-related folklore. This is particularly true in the case of the United States: according to journalist C. D. B. Bryan, 73% of all reported alien encounters in the United States describe Grey aliens, a significantly higher proportion than other countries.<ref name = cdbb-ce4k-1995 />Template:Rp
During the early 1980s, Greys were linked to the alleged crash-landing of a flying saucer in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. A number of publications contained statements from individuals who claimed to have seen the U.S. military handling a number of unusually proportioned, bald, child-sized beings. These individuals claimed, during and after the incident, that the beings had oversized heads and slanted eyes, but scant other distinguishable facial features.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
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In 1987, novelist Whitley Strieber published the book Communion, which, unlike his previous works, was categorized as non-fiction, and in which he describes a number of close encounters he alleges to have experienced with Greys and other extraterrestrial beings. The book became a New York Times bestseller,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and New Line Cinema released a 1989 film adaption that starred Christopher Walken as Strieber.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1988, Christophe Dechavanne interviewed the French science-fiction writer and ufologist Jimmy Guieu on TF1's Ciel, mon mardi !. Besides mentioning Majestic 12, Guieu described the existence of what he called "the little greys", which later on became better known in French under the name: les Petits-Gris.<ref name="Guieu">{{#if:|{{#ifexist:Media:{{{1}}}|<phonos file="{{{1}}}"></phonos>|{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "{{{1}}}" not found}}Template:Category handler}}}} Template:Cite newsTemplate:CbignoreTemplate:Dead Youtube links L'émission se déroule dans le contexte de l'époque, en 1998. Si, aujourd'hui, parler de conspirations et d'OVNI, du MJ-12, des "Petits-Gris" et de bases souterraines ou même d'incriminer la famille Bush semble (relativement) familier, l'enregistrement de cette séquence se déroule en 1988, soit bien avant Internet et même bien avant " X-Files ", l'affaire de la créature de Roswell, etc. Avec ces déclarations de Jimmy Guieu lors de la diffusion en direct de cette émission "Ciel, mon mardi!" par la chaîne de télévision TF1 avec Christophe Dechavanne comme animateur, c'était la toute première fois que le grand public français – voire européen – entendait parler de ce dossier. Jimmy Guieu emploie d'ailleurs le terme "Little Greys" pour désigner les "Petits-Gris" qui, par la suite, deviendront rapidement plus connus sous l'appellation de " Short Greys ".</ref> Guieu later wrote two docudramas, using as a plot the Grey aliens / Majestic-12 conspiracy theory as described by John Lear and Milton William Cooper: the series "E.B.E." (for "Extraterrestrial Biological Entity"): E.B.E.: Alerte rouge (first part) (1990) and E.B.E.: L'entité noire d'Andamooka (second part) (1991).Template:Citation needed
Greys have since become the subject of many conspiracy theories. Many conspiracy theorists believe that Greys represent part of a government-led disinformation or plausible deniability campaign, or that they are a product of government mind-control experiments.<ref name="Knight2003">Template:Cite book</ref> During the 1990s, popular culture also began to increasingly link Greys to a number of military-industrial complex and New World Order conspiracy theories.<ref name=BiteTheDust>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1995, filmmaker Ray Santilli claimed to have obtained 22 reels of 16 mm film that depicted the autopsy of a "real" Grey supposedly recovered from the site of the 1947 incident in Roswell.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=santilli1>[https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0163521
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| Q21191270 | Q21664088 | Q50062923 | Q50914552 | Q99079902 | Q123186929 | Q55422400 | Q61220733 =Template:Preview warning | Q3464665 =Template:Preview warning }}{{#ifeq: Template:Wikidata | Q21191270 |Template:Preview warning }}{{#if: 0163521 | Template:WikidataCheck }}</ref> In 2006, though, Santilli announced that the film was not original, but was instead a "reconstruction" created after the original film was found to have degraded. He maintained that a real Grey had been found and autopsied on camera in 1947, and that the footage released to the public contained a percentage of that original footage.<ref name ="Eamonn1">Eamonn Investigates: Alien Autopsy, British Sky Broadcasting. First shown on Sky One, April 4, 2006.</ref>
AnalysisEdit
In close encounter claims and ufologyEdit
Greys are often involved in alien abduction claims. Among reports of alien encounters, Greys make up about 50% in Australia, 73% in the United States, 48% in continental Europe, and around 12% in the United Kingdom.<ref name="cdbb-ce4k-1995">Template:Cite bookTemplate:Page needed</ref>Template:Rp These reports include two distinct groups of Greys that differ in height.<ref name="cdbb-ce4k-1995" />Template:Rp<ref name="AliensAndHybrids" />
Abduction claims are often described as extremely traumatic, similar to an abduction by humans or even a sexual assault in the level of trauma and distress. The emotional impact of perceived abductions can be as great as that of combat, sexual abuse, and other traumatic events.<ref>
1. McNally RJ, Lasko NB, Clancy SA, Macklin ML, Pitman RK, Orr SP. Psychophysiological Responding During Script-Driven Imagery in People Reporting Abduction by Space Aliens. Psychological Science. 2004;15(7):493-497. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00707.x</ref>
The eyes are often a focus of abduction claims, which often describe a Grey staring into the eyes of an abductee when conducting mental procedures.<ref name="AliensAndHybrids" /> This staring is claimed to induce hallucinogenic states or directly provoke different emotions.<ref name="subsequent">Jacobs, David M. "Subsequent Procedures." In: Pritchard, Andrea & Pritchard, David E. & Mack, John E. & Kasey, Pam & Yapp, Claudia. Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference. Cambridge: North Cambridge Press. pp. 64–68.</ref>
Psychocultural expression of intelligenceEdit
Neurologist Steven Novella proposes that Grey aliens are a byproduct of the human imagination, with the Greys' most distinctive features representing everything that modern humans traditionally link with intelligence. "The aliens, however, do not just appear as humans, they appear like humans with those traits we psychologically associate with intelligence."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The "Mother Hypothesis"Edit
In 2005, Frederick V. Malmstrom, writing in Skeptic magazine, volume 11, issue 4, presents his idea that Greys are actually residual memories of early childhood development. Malmstrom reconstructs the face of a Grey through transformation of a mother's face based on our best understanding of early-childhood sensation and perception. Malmstrom's study offers another alternative to the existence of Greys, the intense instinctive response many people experience when presented an image of a Grey, and the act of regression hypnosis and recovered-memory therapy in "recovering" memories of alien abduction experiences, along with their common themes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Evolutionary implausibilityEdit
According to biologist Jack Cohen, the typical image of a Grey, assuming that it would have evolved from a world with different environmental and ecological conditions from Earth, is too physiologically similar to a human to be credible as a representation of an alien.<ref name="CohenStewart2002">Template:Cite book</ref>
Other hypothesesEdit
The interdimensional hypothesis, the cryptoterrestrial hypothesis, and the time-traveller hypothesis attempt to provide an alternative explanation to the humanoid anatomy and behavior of these alleged beings.
In popular cultureEdit
Depictions of Grey aliens have gone on to appear in a number of films and television shows, supplanting the previously popular little green men. As early as 1966, for example, the superhero character Ultraman was explicitly based on them,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and in 1977 they were featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.<ref name="Kallen2011">Template:Cite book</ref> Greys have also been worked into space opera and other interstellar settings: in Babylon 5, the Greys are referred to as the "Vree", and are depicted as being allies and trade partners of 23rd-century Earth,<ref name="Babylon5">Template:Cite episode</ref> while in the Stargate franchise they are called the "Asgard" and depicted as ancient astronauts allied with modern-day Earth.Template:Citation needed South Park refers to them as "visitors".
During the 1990s, plotlines wherein Greys were linked to conspiracy theories became common.<ref name=BiteTheDust></ref> Template:Cnspan and American Dad!, which features a Grey-like alien named Roger, whose backstory draws from both the Roswell incident and Area 51 conspiracy theories.<ref name="americandadscripts1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ovguide1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The 2011 film Paul tells the story of a Grey named Paul who attributes the Greys' frequent presence in science fiction pop culture to the US government deliberately inserting the stereotypical Grey alien image into mainstream media; this is done so that if humanity came into contact with Paul's species, no immediate shock would occur as to their appearance.<ref name"PaulFilm">Template:Cite AV media</ref> Child abduction by Greys is a key plot point in the 2013 film, Dark Skies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Greys appear in Syfy's 2021 science fiction dramedy series Resident Alien.<ref name="Syfy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Greys appear as the main antagonistic faction in the 2023 independent game Greyhill Incident.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Alien autopsy
- Budd Hopkins
- Extraterrestrials in fiction
- Insectoid
- John E. Mack
- List of alleged extraterrestrial beings
- Little green men
- Men in black
- Mythic humanoids
- Nordic aliens
- Stan Romanek
- Starchild skull