Close Encounters of the Third Kind

On July 23, 1947, near Bauru, Brazil, Jose C. Higgins was working with a survey crew when a large grayish-white disc one-hundred and fifty feet in diameter landed with a high pitched whistle. The rest of the crew ran, but Higgins stayed and found himself alone with three, seven foot tall, humanoid occupants from the saucer. They appeared to be wearing transparent suits that covered their head and body and carried metal boxes on their backs. The visitors had large, round eyes and round bald heads. They tried to persuade Higgins to go with them, but he escaped hiding in a thicket for a half hour until aliens boarded their ship and left.

On October 11, 1954, near Shrewsbury, England, Jennie Roetenberg and her two children observed an aluminum colored saucer hovering above her house. Mrs. Roetenberg reported she could see two men looking out through windows in the side of the ship. The men had high foreheads and wore turquoise-blue outfits with clear helmets. They seemed to be watching the scene in a "sternly, not in an unkindly fashion, but almost sadly, compassionately," she reported.

The above are reports of a "close encounter of the third kind." Here alien visitors are actually seen and some interaction with the observer may occur. Often, though not always, the reports describe, short humanoid forms with large heads, large eyes, slit like mouths and smooth silver or gray skin. Whether this is because the witnesses are seeing similar beings, or because popular media images have prepared people to expect to see this form, is unknown. There are occasionally reports of beings much larger than humans (seven to fifteen feet high) and hairy dwarfs.

Book: "Creatures from UFO's"

Witnesses often report seeing similar characteristics.