Alien Baby Found In Attic —
Status: Undetermined
The Guardian reports that screenwriter Barney Broom has discovered a baby alien in his attic, "stored in an old toffee jar wrapped in a copy of the Daily Mirror dating from October 1947." The alien (or rather, model of an alien) resembles the aliens depicted in the alien autopsy movies and appears to be sculpted out of clay. It has a serial number on its foot. Speculation has commenced about what this alien baby might be. Was it something created by the US airforce back in 1947? Broom does live close to some US bases, so maybe a US servicemen renting the cottage left the model up in the attic by accident. Or is it a film prop from the 1960s? Or is it a recently created hoax?
Whatever it turns out to be, the case bears a striking similarity to
the discovery of a pickled dragon in an Oxfordshire garage that occurred back in early 2004. The dragon turned out to be of recent manufacture, and its discovery was a stunt to help promote an author's book. Given that we're once again dealing with a writer discovering a mysterious pickled creature, the question to ask is, Does Barney Broom have a book coming out soon, and does it have anything to do with extraterrestrials?
Update: The BBC also has an article about the alien baby, with more pictures of it, including a close-up of the serial number on its foot. They note that the Pentagon is dismissing the model as a hoax. I also find it interesting that the first thing Barney Broom did with the model was take it to the Sci-Fi Channel. In my mind, this increases the likelihood that it's a hoax.
Update 2: Captain DaFt has sent in a picture of his alien lamp, which, I suppose, bears a vague resemblance to the alien in the attic, in the sense that it's also a small alien preserved in liquid. He writes: "Here's the picture of my alien lamp I promised in response to the "Alien found in attic" story. Unfortunately; Spencer's doesn't seem to sell them anymore. (Nor the dinosaur fetus lamps either.)"
Personally, I would definitely pay good money to own a dinosaur fetus lamp.