Most of us don’t believe in aliens, but looking at this strange fossil might make you stop and think.
This relic is, in fact, the ancient fossil that inspired the extraterrestrial antagonists in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror classic, Alien.
Alien’s creator was Swiss surrealist artist Hans Rudolf Giger, whom Ridley Scott sought out to design the creatures after seeing Giger’s artwork, Necronom IV, one of his many designs said to have been based on fossils.
Alien abduction: This 300-million-year-old fossil, which inspired the artist who designed the alien antagonist in the Alien films, was stolen and then returned to a Swiss museum.
Giger’s designs, one of which was memorably seen emerging from a character’s chest on screen, earned his team an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects on the 1979 film and the franchise that followed.
But the fossil stranger than fiction is actually the remains of an early life form that existed on our own planet an incredible 300 million years ago.
And the extremely rare fossil so captured the public’s imagination when it was displayed in Switzerland that it not only attracted many visitors, but also tempted a thief.
Police believe the thief, who broke into the safe and stole the prize-winning specimen from the Aathal dinosaur museum, is a fossil collector.
The iconic scene from Ridley Scott’s film when one of the aliens wrapped itself around John Hurt’s face.
The relic was the inspiration for Ridley Scott’s hit film Alien.
Last week, police released the photo in an attempt to find the exhibit and track down who took it.
And now the priceless piece has been returned after being placed in the museum’s mailbox inside a padded envelope.
Museum curator Dr Thomas Bolliger said: “It was relatively intact, although one of the arms had been broken off.”
“It is truly an extraordinary fossil and shows two distinct species of a spineless animal that lived on the sea floor some 300 million years ago.”
A museum spokesman added: “It is a very valuable but also unique fossil and it will be very difficult for anyone to sell it or even keep it secret given the publicity surrounding the theft.”
Inspired: HR Giger’s Necronom IV is based on ancient Swiss fossils and is the artwork that earned Mr. Giger his Academy Award-winning job as head of the Alien design team.
