This unnamed humanoid species were almost entirely wiped out by the destruction of their solar system, with their last members being killed in a failed attempt to occupy Earth.
Biology[]
Most of the aliens' biology is unknown, but it is known that they are humanoids who bear at least some resemblance to the classic Grey. Their heads are hairless with flat noses, perpetually frowning mouths, large, dark eyes, no external ears, and thin, wrinkled greyish-brown skin. However, the aliens who were seen by Humans had artificially prolonged their lifespans with life support suits, so it is possible that their natural appearance is different from what was seen when unmasked, such as not being as thin or wrinkled. When killed, their bodies would soon dissolve into nothingness, although this may also be due to the strain put on their bodies from their extended lifespans.
Culture and society[]
The aliens were known to be emotionless, seeking another habitable planet to relocate their species to after their system's destruction, and willing to turn to lethal force to coerce planets into letting them occupy it. They saw Earth's space-related technologies as primitive, and due to their emotionless nature, had no remorse in causing widespread destruction on Earth.
Technology[]
A UFO used by the aliens
The aliens achieved highly advanced technology, utilizing UFOs capable of crossing solar systems. These ships have cylindrical landing gear, and can project a forcefield around the ship's immediate area, which is impervious to Earth's ballistic weaponry, from handheld rounds to anti-air missiles. However, the forcefields are not completely solid against physical objects, allowing slow-moving physical objects to pass through it, such as the aliens, who can walk in and out of the protective field. Internally, alien spacecraft contain a round, central chamber, often used to hold prisoners, and sports several viewing windows around it. In addition, a glowing flower-shaped device known as the Infinitely Indexed Memory Bank can descend from the ceiling of the ships, allowing them to both translate other languages with a somewhat distorted robotic voice and extract information from the brains of other beings. Notably, alien ships generate a magnetic field stronger than that of Earth, using it as a sort of reactionless drive, which has a side effect of making time within their ships speed up relative to time outside. For instance, the time it takes for a Human heart to beat once is equal to several minutes within the ship. Alien weaponry include disintegration rays, capable of vaporizing multiple targets, including large machinery, in a single shot. On spacecraft, these guns resemble satellite dishes. Alien scout probes resemble small, glowing metal orbs that fly with no visible engines, transmitting through unseen optics, but are vulnerable to ballistic weaponry.
Alien life support suits
Another form of notable alien technology are their life support suits, which are capable of keeping them alive for extended periods of time, far beyond their natural lifespans. The suits are entirely smooth, with bullet-shaped, featureless, and opaque helmets, which appear incapable of turning. Their helmets effectively function as both glasses and hearing aids. Strangely, although the suits bear visible joints for their shoulders and pelvis, they lack any elbow joints. While appearing to be made of metal, the alien life support suits are actually solidified electricity, and are very light, with the helmets only weighing a few grams. They are armed with a disintegration ray built into their hands, with the same power as the rays on their ships. Despite their incredible advancements and destructive capability, their suits can be penetrated by small arms fire, although they can resist extreme temperatures and other forms of damage.
History[]
An alien craft over Kansas
At some point in the distant past, the aliens' home system was destroyed, forcing them to flee. They encased their bodies in life support suits made of solid electricity, and sought out a new planet to live on. Finding Earth, which had conditions habitable to them, the aliens began directing their fleet to Earth. After arriving in the mid-20th century, they were sighted across the globe as they scouted out the planet with both their ships and their drones. The US Air Force documented the alien sightings, soon giving the order to fire on the saucers on sight, even though the aliens were quite elusive. Shortly after arriving, an alien ship flew over Dr. Russell Marvin and his wife Carol while they were driving to a US military base, attempting to communicate with him, sending a message that they would meet with him the next day, although Russell was unable to understand the sound from the ship, as it was accelerated. The ship flew off before Russell could get an image of it, but he was able to record the sound, as he had been recording his audio log. Meanwhile, the aliens detected US satellite launches from Project Skyhook, assumed they were some form of weaponry, and shot the rockets down, although they soon found that the satellites were merely meant for communication, and quite primitive compared to alien technology. General Hanley, Carol's father, got word of the satellites being shot down, and attempted to relay the information to Russell. However, he was unable to stop the next launch, which was promptly shot down by the aliens.
Aliens depart from their ship
The next day, Project Skyhook readied to launch their last satellite, equipped with camera equipment to record what was happening in space. However, before the satellite could launch, an alien ship was sent to the base, sighted by the base personnel and General Hanley as it came in, with the base's phone lines soon being cut off by the aliens. It landed just outside the West Tower, generating a forcefield around itself and deploying aliens. Soldiers soon arrived on the scene, killing the first alien that left the forcefield. However, the other aliens remained within the forcefield, and quickly disintegrated the soldiers.
An alien firing their disintegrator ray
Once the area was clear, the aliens retrieved their dead comrade and destroyed the satellite's rocket, proceeding to destroy more of the base's equipment, rendering the air toxic and killing almost all other personnel, aside from Russel and Carol. With the launch site in ruins, the aliens departed into space, but not before taking General Hanley prisoner. Aboard the ship, the aliens used their translator device to speak to Hanley, explaining that they did not expect to be met with hostility after contacting Dr. Marvin, as they thought that the transmission would've been deciphered by then. After General Hanley refused to continue complying, the aliens decided to extract information from his mind. Meanwhile, on the ground, as Russell's recording device's battery died, he replayed the sound of the saucer, which was slowed down due to the low power, allowing him to finally understand what the aliens were saying.
Aliens as seen through their viewports within the ship's central chamber
After Russell and Carol were rescued, they took the recording to the Pentagon, where the alien transmission was brought to the government, and Russell resolved to meet with the aliens. In secret, he managed to contact the aliens using the same frequency they used. The aliens arranged a meeting with them at 6 A.M. at Chesapeake Bay. Russell managed to get to the bay with Carol, a military officer named Major Huglin, and a police officer in pursuit, arriving just in time for the ship to land. All the Humans were taken aboard, where the aliens took off with them, revealing the time-accelerating principles of their ship, and that they were the ones who shot down the satellites. The aliens also explain that they chose to speak to Russell because he was a scientist who studied space, proceeding to explain their origin and that their ships continue to circle the globe. The aliens then asked him to convince all Earth leaders to meet with them in Washington D.C. to negotiate the alien occupation of Earth, showing him images of a US Navy destroyer being vaporized by an alien ship as a warning of what would happen if their demands are not met. When questioned, the aliens explained that they will not launch a direct invasion due to the fact that a prolonged war against Earth would likely render the planet uninhabitable, and thus useless to them. Then, when questioned again, the aliens used General Hanley, whose mind was under their control, to answer questions pertaining to the history of the United States. The aliens then reveal General Hanley, who appeared in a trance-like state. The police officer then pulled his gun and fired on the aliens to no avail, only for the aliens to take over his mind as well. Giving Russell 56 days to arrange the meeting and the coordinates of the destroyed naval craft to present as proof, they let the Humans go, minus General Hanley and the officer.
Major Huglin firing at an alien
Although the incredible power of the alien armaments frightened Russell, he was able to come up with an idea for a weapon that could counter the alien ships by disrupting their magnetic fields, using the knowledge of the ships' properties he got from his meeting with the aliens, working for some time as the remaining days elapsed. An alien scout probe attempted to observe the Humans as they built the prototypes of the weapon, but the probe was soon destroyed by Major Huglin. Russell and his companions attempted to escape the lab with the weapon, entering the woods outside the lab, but were quickly pursued by an alien ship, the same one holding General Hanley, which landed and deployed alien troops. Managing to get the weapon active, Russell made the ship wobble on its landing gear, but was unable to get enough power to bring the ship down. Despite the disruption, all but one alien reentered the ship and took off, distracting Russell and the others. The remaining alien walked over to the truck where the gun was mounted, finding a scientist attempting to leave the vehicle, who it quickly disintegrates, before destroying an army vehicle that had accompanied Russell. Major Huglin took a rifle and confronted the alien, killing it before it could fire on him or the weapon. Russell and the others investigated the alien's body, finding that its armor was very light and removing its helmet to expose its true form, before the alien's body faded away.
An alien ship flying away from the burning forest
Above the Humans, a bomber was called in to take out the alien ship, with the gunners firing on the flying saucer. The bullets dealt no damage to the ship, which promptly destroys the bomber with its disintegration ray. The saucer then destroys the lab, firing on the forest to flush out the Humans, lighting most of the trees aflame. However, the Humans evaded the saucer, prompting the ship to jettison General Hanley and the police officer, who were no longer needed. Russell and his surviving companions made it to another secure location, where Human scientists analyzed the alien life support armor, retrieved from the burned-out woods, finding out what the suits were made of and how they work. Using the suit's communications uplink, the Humans recorded and deciphered messages being sent by the aliens, including plans of attack to be timed with the positions of stars and planets in relation to Earth. In addition, the weapon was improved, making a far greater range of effectiveness. As the Humans thought up more anti-alien weapons based on the suit's sense enhancements, the aliens transmitted a message to Earth, ordering them to look to the sun, telling them of eight days and nights of meteorological convulsions following eruptions on the sun, after which all world leaders are to convene in Washington D.C.. The same message was translated into every Earth language and transmitted across the globe for twelve hours, going silent soon afterwards, when the sun flared up as said by the aliens.
An alien ship brought down into the Capitol Reflecting Pool
The sun's flares created heavy storms and tidal waves over the next eight days, as predicted by the aliens, hampering Human communications and logistics. As the days elapsed, Human populations were evacuated, but 60% of the population in Washington D.C. were unable to evacuate due to the blocking of buses and planes. On the last day, after the Humans refused to comply with alien demands, not gathering the world leaders, an alien ship was detected coming in low over the Atlantic, fired on by the US military, but it proved impervious to all anti-air missiles and artillery fired on it. A group of alien ships then descended on Washington D.C., firing on anti-air emplacements. However, the US military had developed more models of the upgraded anti-alien weapon, bringing one of the saucers down into the Capitol Reflecting Pool. Other alien ships targeted nearby buildings, prompting the weapon-carrying trucks to follow the ships across the city, as the aliens jammed remaining Human communications, targeting the trucks as a ship landed outside the White House. Alien soldiers deployed from the ship, but stayed within their forcefield to negate small arms fire. As the saucer took off again to fire on the building, another weapon-carrying truck made the saucer crash into other nearby buildings. Another ship was targeted by the military as it continued to fire on buildings, brought down into Union Station. Other ships were brought down by the army over the ground, crashing through buildings and monuments, but alien cafts remained active, still targeting anti-alien weaponry. After one was brought down over the Lincoln Memorial, an alien ship landed in front of the Capitol Building, sending in alien soldiers, but without their ship's forcefield, the aliens were killed by US soldiers. With the remaining alien ship coming in, the army managed to bring the first down against nearby structures, while the last ship was forced to ram into the dome of the Capitol Building, where it exploded. With the alien ships downed, the alien fleet was destroyed, and without their ships, aliens were left vulnerable to Earth's weaponry. With the destruction of their fleet, the alien species was rendered extinct.
Appearances[]
- Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Notes[]
- Footage from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers was used in The Three Stooges 1958 short Flying Saucer Daffy, specifically shots of an alien ship flying towards the camera, thus making the alien ships externally identical to those used by the Zirconians. The same footage was used for The 27th Day, giving the same ship model to the aliens of that film.