A statue in the temple, likely representing the aliens. Also notice the flying saucer drawings visible on the wall behind.
These aliens are an unknown race of spacefaring sapients which have been visiting Earth for thousands of years but remain mostly hidden from Humans, save for a few select contactees who have been made aware of their presence.
Biology[]
The only clue about the physical appearance of this species comes from the statues at the temple of the island of Pulau-Pulau Bompa, in Southeast Asia. These seem to represent humanoids wearing what could be interpreted as space helmets.
Culture and society[]
The aliens are a space-faring civilization which travel in saucer-shaped spacecraft. Their technology includes devices that allow users to communicate telepathically, as well as means to hypnotize others. They make use of metals that don't exist naturally on Earth, including pure native-metal cobalt.
They seem to be a benevolent species, as they were quick to send their ship to rescue the people on Pulau-Pulau Bompa as the volcano erupted. However, they prefer to keep their own existence hidden and have no qualms about hypnotizing people and erasing memories.
History[]
The aliens have been in contact with select groups of Humans for thousands of years, and were regarded as deities by ancient Sondonesian cultures, who have built temples to honor them and to be in contact with them. Even in the 20th century, the aliens continue to visit these temples, and have made contact with certain researchers, such as Mik Kanrokitoff, with which they have shared their technology. However, they prefer to keep their existence a secret to the public. They seem to be monitoring mankind's development.
The aliens called by Kanrokitoff were responsible for saving the lives of all those present in the Pulau-Pulau Bompa island when the volcano erupted. To do so, they abducted Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Prof. Calculus, Laszlo Carreidas, Piotr Skut, Gino and Dr. Krollspell as they were fleeing from the lava flow. Previously, all of them except Krollspell had been kept as hostages on the island by the villainous Rastapopoulos and his henchmen, who wanted access to the Carreidas' substantial bank account. A few moments later, the aliens located and abducted Rastapopoulos and the rest of the bandits as well.
All of the abductees were hypnotized before entering the alien craft. Shortly afterwards, Tintin, Snowy, Haddock, Calculus, Carreidas, Skut and Gino were released on a lifeboat at the sea. All but the dog, Snowy, had their memories erased and remained unconscious until the next day, when they were located and rescued by authorities who believed that Carreidas' airplane had fallen in the ocean. As they regained consciousness, the group realized that they couldn't remember the accident or anything that had happened since. A few days later, an amnesic Krollspell was also located in New Delhi. The fates of Rastapopoulos and his men remain unknown, although it's likely that the aliens also erased their memories and released them as well.
Appearances[]
- Flight 714 to Sydney (Fr: Vol 714 pour Sydney), by Hergé (1968) (only their spacecraft and statues are seen)
Notes[]
- As mentioned above, the ultimate fate of the abducted villains and what the aliens did to them remains unknown. It's very likely that, as with the heroes, they merely had their memories erased and were released somewhere; although it would also be in-character for Kanrokitoff and the aliens to attempt to use hypnotism to reform them. If that was indeed the case, it probably wouldn't have worked with Rastapopoulos, given that he was set to appear as the main villain again in the album Tintin and Alph-Art, which was never completed by Hergé.