Alien Baby Found Preserved In Jar

BEN KENDALL    06 February 2006 08:31

Discovered among rusty prams, out-of-date food and yellowing newspapers in a cottage attic it is, at worst, a curiosity pointing to an era when space remained unexplored and alien hoaxes abounded.

But at best it might be an indication that ET has finally found home - in Norfolk.

The elaborately crafted 'alien' is a foot tall, stored in a sweet jar and carries what is thought to be a US serial number on its left foot.

It was discovered by filmmaker Barney Broom when he began renovating Victory Cottage on the Gunthorpe Hall estate.

The model, probably made from clay, was wrapped in a newspaper dated 1947, the year of the famous Roswell events, and it bares a resemblance to the type of alien claimed to have been found at this time.

Whatever its origin, Mr Broom believes it is more than a child's toy and may once have been a possession of US military personnel. So far, the Pentagon has refused to comment.

Mr Broom said: “I was clearing out the loft and was amazed when I found this among piles of old rubbish.

“Because of the military presence in the area it seems possible that it was taken from one of the bases, possibly Mildenhall, and then forgotten about. If that is the case, it begs the question: why was it created in the first place? As it seems to date to the Roswell era, I can't help wondering if there may be a connection.

“I wouldn't say I believe in aliens but at the same time I don't think it is possible to rule out their existence. Whatever the origins of this model, there must be an interesting story to be told.”

Satellite and cable television's SCI FI channel is investigating the model.

Managing director Nick Betts has written to the American defence logistics agency asking for any information. His query has been forwarded to the Air Force Office of Public Affairs.

Alien expert professor Adam Roberts, a lecturer in 19th-century literature specialising in sci-fi at the University of London, has inspected the model.

“It has the look of a 'grey', a particular type of alien common in popular culture,” he said. “Clearly it reflects the culture in which it was made but the interesting thing is why it was made. Perhaps it was a toy but given that it seems to carry a genuine US serial number that seems unlikely.

“What seems more likely is that it was created for some research purpose by the military which raises more questions than it answers.”

Alien Crash Lands In The Attic

Hoax, military decoy or film prop? A householder from Norfolk doesn't know what to make of an "alien" that has crash landed into his attic.

Builders working in the attic of Barney Broom's cottage in the village of Gunthorpe found an old jar containing what appeared to be a model of an alien, about 12 inches tall, made of clay and preserved in a liquid which smelled of vinegar.

The jar was wrapped in a 1947 copy of the Daily Mirror. The alien appeared to have a serial number on its foot.

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UPI NewsTrack

Pickled baby alien model baffles U.K.

GUNTHORPE, England, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A man who found a pickled model of a space alien while cleaning out an attic in England thinks the U.S. military had a hand in creating it.

Barney Broom was renovating his cottage he bought several months ago when he made the startling find -- a 12-inch figure of a large-eyed baby alien stored in a pungent liquid with some kind of a U.S. serial number painted on its four-toed foot.

He told The Guardian he found it odd that is was in an old toffee jar wrapped in a copy of the Daily Mirror dating from October 1947. In July of that year, officials at the U.S. air base of Roswell, N.M., reported and then denied finding the remains of a flying saucer.

His cottage at Gunthorpe is 45 miles from two large air bases at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Air Force said it had never made such models of an alien, the figure was not government property and the serial number could mean it had been catalogued by a museum.