It’s only been a matter of weeks since the US Congress held its landmark UFO hearing, and reports of alien sightings are beginning to pile in. While many of these extraterrestrial encounters have typically involved the discovery of strange tech found in remote locations, such as an Australian beach and deep underwater, the latest reports come from a rural district in the north east of Lima, Peru, where local villagers claim that they are under attack by 7ft tall armoured aliens that draw resemblance to the Green Goblin from Sprider Man.

According to local reports from the Ikitu indigenous people, the extraterrestrials or “strange beings” – who have large heads and yellow eyes – have been launching attacks on the community since July 11, including one particular incident involving a 15-year-old girl who was grabbed from behind in an attempted abduction. The aliens in question are believed to wear protective armour and round shoes with a red light on the heel; they hover above ground and fly away when shot at. 

The rural district of Alto Nanay is a 10-hour river trip from the nearest city Iquitos. Locals have requested military presence from the authorities – and while the police and navy have since arrived in the area, locals continue to conduct night patrols.

“These gentlemen are aliens. They seem armoured like the green goblin from Spider Man. I have shot him twice and he does not fall, but rises and disappears. We are frightened by what is happening in the community,“ said community leader Jairo Reátegui Ávila.

“Their colour is silver, their shoes are round in shape and with that, they rise up. They float one metre high and have a red light on the heel. Their heads are long... and their eyes are yellowish. With that, they see you well and they leave. They are experts at escaping,” he added. 

According to local news source RPP Noticias, some villagers have likened the creatures to peelacaras or ‘face peelers’, mythical creatures that harvest the organs of their victims. While unlikely, this hasn’t stopped online commentators from latching onto the idea – a bogus image of a man with his face peeled off is currently circulating Twitter.

Another theory is that the creatures are drones roaming the region, linked to drug trafficking and gang violence. “They can't see their faces and their bodies are floating. They use their arms for balance [when flying], but they walk normally. Every time we arrive, they fly with an activation of something on the bottom of their feet. They have wheels with lights,” said Reátegui Ávila.

While the chances of an alien creature coming down to Earth in a form that we recognise as an alien seems far-fetched, the latest round of sightings is strange to say the least. Like folklore creatures, aliens have long stood in as symbols for what we don’t know, or yet have the knowledge to understand, so it’s reasonable to assume that there’s more to this story than meets the eye. 

You need only look at historical accounts of alien sightings such as the Roswell incident and The Belgium Wave to see the relationship between these reports and military intervention – the same goes for alien technology of unidentified origin. So, maybe there’s actually silver men attacking local villagers at night, or maybe the answer is more homegrown. Either way, as UFOria sweeps across culture, we can expect to see plenty more stories on the horizon.

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