In the early 1970s, a group of my friends, and I faked several UFOs and alien encounters, including the now infamous “Tin Foil Alien” also known as the “Alabama Metal Man.”
These events occurred fifty years ago. Some may well ask, “Why wait this long to write a book about it?”
That’s a good question.
There are several parts to the answer. The first is that other than a photograph in a local newspaper in the 1970s and a few local A.M. talk shows, our exploits barely made any impact at all. The Tin Foil Alien was the only photo that actually made it to local newspapers at the time. The rest of our adventures barely caused a ripple anywhere.
Then in 1974, Beyond Earth: Man’s Contact with UFOs was released. It contained one of the poor-quality Polaroids taken by Falkville Chief of Police Jeff Greenhaw. Back then there was no Internet, so it took my friends and I several months to become aware of the existence of the book.
We were young teenagers at the time, so we had mixed reactions to the release of the book. On the one hand, the whole purpose of the UFO pranks we had staged was to garner attention and fool people, so the publication of the Tin Foil Alien photo in a nationally released book far exceeded our expectations.
On the other hand, we were a group of teenagers. The idea of attracting that much attention to us was more than a bit scary. What might the consequences be? There had already been rumors of an investigation by the Air Force when the local paper printed the photo.
So, we kept silent.
Over time I moved away from northeastern Alabama and lost touch with my friends. Our pranks faded into distant memories, and for the most part I forgot about the whole thing.
I’ve since become a father, then a grandfather. My daughter developed an interest in paranormal activities and UFOs so one day during one of our discussions I showed her a picture of the Tin Foil Alien. She immediately suggested that I write a book about our exploits.
When I was a teenager, the Watergate scandal was in all the headlines, and conspiracy theories about all sorts of things were rampant. This love of conspiracies didn’t just apply to the nation’s political situation at the time. The space program was in full swing. We were landing on the Moon. And yes, even then there were conspiracists who denied the reality of the lunar landings.
Other popular conspiracy theories of the time included Bigfoot, aliens, ghosts, and various other types of cryptids. Northeast Alabama is in the foothills of the Appalachians, and the Appalachian folk love to spin a good yarn.
We live in a time that is much like the 1970s were. We’re embroiled in yet another political scandal, and conspiracy theories are making all the headlines. Critical thinking skills are in short supply among a large number of the population. Many people believe things not based on the evidence, but on their desire to believe.
This seems like a perfect time to come clean about the exploits of my youth and their aftermath. This book offers detailed explanations of how my friends and I faked many UFO events in the early 1970s in northeastern Alabama. In the days before the Internet and video games, this is the sort of stuff pre-teens and teenagers did to entertain themselves. Such fakery is quite easy when you know how it’s done.
Does this mean that I believe that there is no truth to the UFO phenomenon? No. What it means is that people should apportion their beliefs to not only the amount of evidence available, but also to the quality of that evidence.
Is it really more credible to believe that the Tin Foil Alien was a visitor from another world, or that it was just a teenager in a homemade costume?
Over the years I’ve maintained an interest in the UFO phenomenon. Given that there are more stars in the visible universe than there are grains of sand on every beach on the planet, it’s highly unlikely that there’s no other life out there. I’d be among the first to welcome a legitimate visitor from another planet.
But I doubt he’d be clad in tin foil.
Until such credible evidence appears, I remain hopeful but skeptical. And I wish the same for my readers.
Tin Foil Aliens will be released in March of 2024! Contact us to be placed on the pre-order list!