Interesting twists on stereotypical UFO/alien sightings and abductions?

[barbsart]

I'm very interested in conspiracy theories, alien abductions, area 51 etc.

I've had the idea for a comic for a while in which a teen from the 80's gets abducted and tested on by aliens, cryofrozen inbetween testing, and when they're done with him they drop him back on Earth, where the boy realizes 30 years have passed since he left (he has barely aged because of the freezing). I also want magic to be involved in both humanity and the alien race. I've been struggling with trying to come up with an interesting motive for the aliens, who they are and what they're doing exactly.

I want to play around with the idea we have of aliens (UFO's, green men with big black eyes, abductions and testing on humans), and "twist" it in some way to create an interesting plot. I'm pretty low on inspiration right now though, so I was wondering if you guys had any ideas for it or if you know any kind of media/story that does the same thing!

[DiegoPalacios]

Maybe magic works differently on aliens and humans and that is why aliens want to study humans.
Just an example: Alien magic comes from their blood, is genetic. They use their own energy while humans borrow that energy from nature or other beings (like rituals, pacts with the supernatural, etc...). Aliens may be interested in achieving the human way of magic or use humans to channel extra magical energy.

[youcannotread]

I'm stuck on the thought of, 'Why experiment?", so here's an idea: let's think of lab mice. They're used for testing human drugs on - instead of testing human drugs on humans. What's way better for testing human drugs on than mice? Right! Other humans.

So, taking a tiny step backwards: you could have aliens finding out that humans and aliens share similar physiological functions. And on the alien planet it is illegal to do 'alien' testing on other 'aliens'. so to try to stop a pandemic on the 'alien' planet, they find a human to test drugs on.

Another twist: 'alien' using humans for testing could also be illegal. Just like humans experimenting on animals, at least in most places, is illegal (unless they're mice XD). So then you have aliens coming to earth for whatever reason -maybe 'aliens' are not supposed to go to earth but they're desperate to find a cure so they've run away to the planet to start experimenting.
You could add lots of stuff here, maybe they're breaking multiple alien races' laws. You could have sabotage and espionage. One 'alien' turning on the rest of their crew. Or them having to constantly avoid earth missiles while staying under the radar of the watch of their home planet.

As far as the magic goes, real experiments/drugs have side effects. So through the experiments your protagonist is effected. Maybe this amps their magic up, or it cripples it. You have lots of room for story/character development with a hormonally irritated teenager being thrown into the future... But now they have super powers!

[joe_galindez]

I honestly think that if UFOs exist they're more likely to be from alternate universes than from other planets.

[SleepingPoppy]

I don't know if it will help, but Buzzfeed Unsolved (on youtube) has a number of interesting videos that discuss some of the most famous alien abductions, sightings, etc. They're well researched but super cute and funny because the guys discussing it banter and joke as one explains to the other. I don't think they'll give you an idea, but they're conversations might inspire you. They discuss a lot of theories.

People of Earth might also interest you. I haven't seen a lot of it, but everything I have seen was REALLY good. It's got a pretty original alien invasion story line, and hits on all the "types" of aliens, ala Greys, Whites, Lizard Men. Basically taking established conspiracy theory and lore and running with it. Alien abductions are a big part of that too, so maybe it would help you there.

As far as offering a unique idea.. I suppose you need to decide what the alien's over arching goal is, and then how human experiments fit into that. Aliens could be trying to create super soldiers, perfect beings, they may be studying people the way we study the unknown. Or is it part of a plan to take over the world? Has our human boy been implanted with something, brainwashed in some way... etc etc

Sorry I don't have any clever ideas off the cuff. I DO think the two media sources above could be helpful and fun. And if you want a direct link to relevant Unsolved episodes, let me know, and I'll message you with some.

Good luck! I think it's a great idea for a story, so do your best!

[barbsart]

That's interesting! I actually just got the idea that maybe the humans have the ability to use magic but the aliens don't, and the aliens are testing on them to try to figure out how they can use magic too to become more powerful.

[barbsart]

Thank you so much for the recommendations! I've seen one of Buzzfeed Unsolved's videos on abductions iirc, it was very interesting. I think I'm missing out on some episodes though, so links would be helpful yeah

I just looked up the trailer for People of Earth and it seems awesome, I'll definitely check it out! Also I recognized that conspiracy theorist guy from Stranger Things lol

[SleepingPoppy]

PMed ya the links. Hope they help! I've only seen episodes of People of Earth sporadically. I really want to sit down and marathon it at some point, because it seems so good. And I didn't even notice it's the same actor from Stranger Things! I'm so bad at spotting that stuff, but awesome. XD

[barbsart]

Here's an interesting comment I got on Reddit!

I think you've got something going with the 30 year freeze. Already, what we know about the aliens is that:

• They are catch-&-release. They could easily have just done whatever it is they do and then discarded a dead teen, but they went out of their way to release him or her back into the world.
• They took 30 years to do their business.

Maybe they are lazy or slow, and it normally takes them this long to conduct an experiment.

Maybe they are incompetent and forgetful, and misplaced the teen's clipboard, or the tag fell off in the freezer. Now the klutzy aliens who made the mistake are trying to cover their asses by quietly returning the teen to the world before their bosses finds out.

Maybe they conducted somewhat extensive modifications on the teen, and he or she has been changed in some way.

Maybe the experiment is still ongoing, and they are now observing our teen covertly to see what happens. Hell, they could be watching and listening through the teen's eyes and ears...right now...

[Zaboem]

I don't think you will like it, but I do have an answer for your question. In my novella, aliens are performing a reverse-Pokemon. They capture humans and send those humans to fight or otherwise compete with each other. The basic motivation is shallow rivalry.

[Rhombik]

Darn. I was about to excitedly share the national parks story again but then I realised it was about to be to the same person.

Well, making a logical step, the aliens drop him back off so they either need humans for something or don't want to harm them.

Perhaps, like us, the alien race have evolved in such a way that they have affected their ability to breed and are looking at humans as potential surrogates.

[DiegoPalacios]

Wow, those are interesting suggestions!.
About the 30 years period, i also had another idea.

Maybe the aliens have a longer lifespan than humans, so they have a different perception of time. For them 30 years may be like a couple of days. So releasing the human 30 years later doesn`t seem to be a big deal for them at first sight. Also, humans having a "shorter" lifespan means they can see results "sooner".

[barbsart]

@Zaboem Oo that's an interesting trope yeah, not sure if it fits with what I'm going for but it would be interesting!

@VermiciousKnid Hahaha I remember that story yeah, thanks for the ideas!

@DiegoPalacios Ooo yes that is a great explanation! Thank you!

[Genten]

This is definitely a great idea to work into your story. The concept of missing time is extremely prevalent in real UFO/Alien abduction accounts and in prominent works of media. For the person being abducted it may seem instantaneous, but in reality 30 years may have passed.

I'm not sure if you're aiming for the aliens to be mysterious and sinister in your story, but I will always recommend the X-Files for alien related depictions in popular media. Wikipedia has a list of episodes that are marked as plot relevant, but since the series is pretty long, I really recommend the pilot episode as it pretty well encapsulates the tone regarding aliens in the series.