Buzz
Much like divine revelations, the concept of encountering alien beings has long fueled artistic creativity. Ancient societies depicted what appears to be advanced technology, while Renaissance artworks are filled with strange aerial phenomena. This trend persists today, as extraterrestrial themes continue to inspire contemporary authors, musicians, and performers.
10. Grant Morrison
Known for his iconic shaved head, sharp suits, and fascination with the occult, Grant Morrison rose to fame as the comic book industry's original rock star. Before taking on legendary titles like Batman, X-Men, and JLA, Morrison dedicated six years to his own series, The Invisibles. The narrative revolves around a band of techno-rebels striving to uncover the truth behind a world trapped in a fabricated reality. Combining time-bending rulers, age-old myths, and futuristic dystopian elements, it’s hardly surprising that these concepts stemmed from an otherworldly experience.
Morrison claims that during a 1994 trip to Kathmandu, while sitting on his hotel rooftop, he witnessed aliens appearing in large numbers. They revealed a “sea of pure information,” described our universe as being in a “larvae” state, and tasked him with disseminating this wisdom to humanity. At Disinfocon in 1999, Morrison shared that The Invisibles was his way of conveying the insights gained from his extraterrestrial encounter in Kathmandu. While it may sound unbelievable, Morrison insists that believing is the key to experiencing such phenomena.
9. Sun Ra
“I never wanted to be a part of planet Earth,” declared Herman Poole Blount, known to the world as Sun Ra, the enigmatic and ever-evolving jazz icon. This realization struck him during his time as a struggling student at Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in 1936, where he pursued Music Education. While deeply focused, Sun Ra claims a radiant light emerged before him. In a conversation with his biographer John F. Szwed, he described being transported to a planet he identified as Saturn. There, he was guided by extraterrestrial beings who urged him to leave his studies behind.
After legally adopting his new name in 1952, Sun Ra assembled a group of musicians to form his renowned Arkestra. They embraced a unique style blending Egyptian-inspired attire with futuristic space motifs, a look that later became a hallmark of Afrofuturism. Sun Ra revolutionized jazz by incorporating modern synthesizers and free improvisation, alongside performances featuring dancers, fire-eaters, and intricate stage designs.
In the early 1970s, Sun Ra expanded his exploration of cosmic themes into film, writing and starring in the feature-length movie Space Is The Place. Playing the role of a time-traveling musical guide, he secures humanity’s destiny through a high-stakes card game, empowered by the transformative force of music. The film concludes with Sun Ra launching into space, leading his followers to a new existence on a faraway planet.
8. Tom Delonge
During the late 1990s, Blink-182 gained widespread popularity with their music videos frequently aired on MTV’s “Return of the Rock” campaign. For guitarist and vocalist Tom Delonge, securing a record deal meant he could finally purchase a computer, primarily to “research UFOs online.” He penned the band’s first song about alien abduction, “Aliens Exist,” featured on Enema of the State. Over time, Delonge became increasingly vocal about his belief in extraterrestrial life.
In 2011, Delonge launched Strange Times, a now-inactive website focused on conspiracy theories and paranormal news. His quest for answers led him to Steven Greer, a disclosure advocate, who reportedly provided him with 36 hours of testimonial footage from government insiders discussing UFO phenomena. During an interview with Larry King, Delonge revealed details about secret societies and their role in concealing evidence of alien existence.
Delonge later started the side project Angels & Airwaves, whose logo bears a striking resemblance to the Freemasons’ symbol. This sparked rumors among fans that he might be a member, though at least one Grand Lodge has refuted this claim.
7. William Burroughs
William Burroughs’s groundbreaking novel Naked Lunch was first published in Paris in 1959, though US obscenity laws delayed its release in America for years. Beyond its depictions of drug use, political critique, and surreal insectoid devices, the book also faced backlash for its frank portrayal of extraterrestrial beings. The protagonist, William Lee, focuses less on visitors from outer space and more on those already embedded in society, some even working within government systems.
Burroughs had a lifelong obsession with alien abductions. He frequently visited Bray’s Point, Oregon, a hotspot for UFO sightings that also drew other famous writers like Ken Kesey. In the 1980s, he wrote to Whitley Strieber, author of the bestselling book Communion, which recounts Strieber’s alleged abduction at a cabin in upstate New York. Burroughs asked to stay at the cabin to attempt his own encounter. Disappointingly, no aliens appeared, leading him to speculate that they might view him as an adversary.
6. John Lennon
While items from the Beatles’ legacy can fetch astronomical prices, John Lennon’s golden egg might be the most coveted treasure for devoted fans.
During the early 1970s, Lennon resided with Yoko Ono in New York City’s Dakota Building. As recounted by illusionist Uri Gellar, Lennon once woke to a bright light streaming through his front door’s keyhole. When he stepped outside, he encountered four beings with “large bug-like eyes and tiny insect mouths.” After a brief struggle, he found himself back in bed with Ono.
When Ono inquired about the incident, Lennon realized he was clutching a small golden egg. He shared the story with only a few people and allegedly handed the egg to Gellar, saying, “It’s too strange for me. If it’s my ticket to another world, I’d rather stay here.”
According to Lennon’s assistant May Pang, he experienced a similar encounter at his former apartment, where an unidentified craft appeared outside his balcony while they were sunbathing nude. Lennon sketched the spacecraft and integrated it into the cover art for his album Walls and Bridges.
Lennon frequently referenced these experiences in his music, such as in the song “Out of the Blue,” where he sings, “Like a UFO you came to me/and blew away life’s misery.” Similarly, “Nobody Told Me” includes the lines: “There’s UFOs over New York, and I ain’t too surprised.”
5. Budd Hopkins
In the 1950s, New York experienced an artistic renaissance, propelling abstract expressionists like Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, and Jackson Pollack to fame. Among the aspiring artists drawn to the city was Budd Hopkins, a young talent from Wheeling, West Virginia. Hopkins’s art featured bold geometric forms arranged into sleek, futuristic designs that could easily fit into a contemporary sci-fi universe.
As a seven-year-old, Hopkins listened to Orson Welles’s infamous radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds. Realizing it was a hoax, he developed a skeptical view of extraterrestrial encounters. However, a personal experience later in life changed his perspective. In 1964, while off Cape Cod, Hopkins spotted a daylight UFO resembling a “flat balloon” and immediately reported it to the National Guard. This incident sparked his lifelong dedication to investigating alien phenomena.
Hopkins pioneered the use of psychological evaluations and hypnosis to study abductees, identifying common traits like missing time and mysterious scars. His research gained widespread attention, culminating in the 1987 publication of his best-selling book, Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley Woods.
4. Lux Interior
Some individuals seem to attract the unusual. Lux Interior, who called himself a “garbage man,” had a passion for collecting items rejected by mainstream culture. In the late 1970s, he founded the Cramps with his wife Poison Ivy, blending blues-rock and B-movie camp into a unique style dubbed “Psychobilly.” On their first album, Songs the Lord Taught Us, Interior crafted an eccentric persona, declaring lines like “My Daddy drives a UFO” and expressing ambitions to perform on the Moon. While his flair for theatrics might suggest these claims were mere performance, former bandmate James Sclavunos insists otherwise.
Sclavunos recalls, “Lux firmly believed not only in the existence of extraterrestrial beings but also in their interaction with humanity.” He admired Elvis Presley, another figure rumored to have encountered UFOs, and amassed a collection of tabloid articles about life on Mars.
Following his passing in 2009, stories of Lux Interior’s eccentric habits emerged. Guitarist Mike Metoff remembers that Interior forbade band members from being seen in public during the day. One unforgettable moment was their private performance at a mental institution.
3. Philip K. Dick
It’s almost expected that a luminary of science fiction would have his own extraordinary encounter, and Philip K. Dick’s experience is as enigmatic as his stories. He had recently married his fifth wife, Tessa, and they had a newborn son who was battling an undiagnosed illness that baffled their family doctor.
One day, a delivery woman arrived at their home wearing a necklace adorned with the Christian ichthys symbol. A glint of sunlight reflecting off her gold pendant triggered a vision of a “pink beam” of light. Over the following weeks, the pink beam reappeared frequently, culminating in a revelation in February 1974. Dick suddenly knew his son had an undiagnosed hernia. When they rushed the child to the hospital, doctors confirmed his insight, enabling the boy to receive the necessary treatment.
Motivated by his encounter with the unknown, Dick began writing his Exegesis, an 8,000-page nonfiction work delving into his visions. He theorized that the pink beam originated from a satellite network linked to the star Sirius, facilitating communication between extraterrestrials and humans. He named this orbiting system VALIS, an acronym for “Vast Active Living Intelligence System.” In 1981, he published a novel titled VALIS, which closely paralleled his personal experiences.
Dick often grappled with the nature of his reality, never fully certain of what he was experiencing. He viewed his discovery as both a gift and a burden.
In 1982, Dick shared details about his next project, The Owl in Daylight. The narrative centers on a moderately successful B-movie composer who receives a bio-chip implant from an alien species. This grants him the ability to create avant-garde music but at the cost of his well-being. Reluctant to relinquish his newfound talent, he chooses to keep the implant. Unfortunately, Dick passed away before finishing the novel, leaving fans without a final glimpse into his extraordinary imagination.
2. Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco burst onto the hip-hop scene in 2006 with Food & Liquor, earning three Grammy nominations and a place on GQ’s “Men of the Year” list. Surprisingly, the Chicago rapper used his platform to voice increasingly provocative views. During public appearances, Fiasco challenged the official narrative of 9/11 and expressed deep distrust of the US government. In late 2012, he made waves again, not for his political theories but for revealing an extraterrestrial encounter from his childhood on California’s Power 106.
At the age of 11, Fiasco recounts waking up with an intense feeling of “electric shocks coursing through his body.” He experienced temporary paralysis, unable to move from his bed. Peering out the window, he saw a black disk descend from the sky, pause briefly, and then vanish back into space.
Fiasco speculates that the encounter left him with a mysterious scar on his lower ankle. “I’ve never had surgery there,” he states, “and I have no idea how it appeared.” This experience may have fueled his fascination with government conspiracies and the Illuminati, evident in tracks like “Lamborghini Angels,” which alludes to MKUltra and esoteric practices.
1. Roky Erickson
In You’re Gonna Miss Me: A Film About Roky Erickson, a notarized document from Travis County, Texas, dated 1975, is prominently displayed. It features Erickson’s declaration that he is, “in fact, an alien,” written to ensure he wasn’t breaking any “world or international laws of Earth.” Erickson believed that while he may have been born human, his body had been taken over by a Martian entity of unknown origin.
A decade earlier, Erickson fronted the 13th Floor Elevators, the band that brought psychedelic rock to mainstream America with a performance on The Dick Clark Show in 1966. After the band disbanded, Erickson faced challenges with substance abuse, legal issues, and mental health struggles. Following a two-year stay in a state hospital, he embarked on a solo career, sometimes performing under the alias Bleib Alien.
In recent years, Erickson has kept a low profile, seemingly embracing his humanity once more. However, tracks like “Bermuda Triangle” serve as lasting reminders of his extraterrestrial phase.
