Pancake-serving space invaders and other strange reports of extraterrestrials

The author used artificial intelligence to create the images used with this article.

Across the U.S., people have claimed to have had encounters with extraterrestrials. But not everyone describes little gray men. Some have described creatures that resemble reptiles, praying mantises … even penguins. A vegetable man creature also has been reported, as well as cosmic hippies. If that sounds unusual, wait until you read about the beings who served up pancakes to their witness.

The pancake creatures

On April 18, 1961, Joe Simonton, a plumber who also has been described as a chicken farmer, reported to have an encounter in Eagle River, Wis. In a YouTube video posted by SightseeingSally, she visits Eagle River to ask residents about these unflappable, extraterrestrial flapjack makers.

The town got its name due to all the nesting eagles along river, Sightseeing Sally said. She noted the town has plenty of bars, but she could not find any hint downtown of the pancake incident. No touristy shops with T-shirts or anything like that.

Sightseeing Sally referenced a book called “Midwestern Strange” by B.J. Hollers, who writes about Simonton being visited by a UFO that landed in his backyard. He explains that the spaceship opened and Simonton was greeted by three alien beings about five feet tall and weighing about 125 pounds. Simonton described that the aliens' features resembled those of Italians.

During the encounter, Simonton said one creature at a flameless griddle motioned that it needed a jug of water filled. Simonton took the creature's container and filled it with water from his basement sink. The alien took the water and made Simonton four pancakes and handed them to him. The beings then shut the hatch and their craft headed into outer space. Simonton took a bite of the pancakes and reportedly described them as tasting terrible and like cardboard.

Sightseeing Sally said some people said Simonton, who died in 1972, frequently drank. But officials did investigate Joe’s claims, she said, and said they found no reason why he would make up a tall tale.

The cosmic hippies, or 'tall whites'

Another somewhat humorous tale of extraterrestrial visitors includes cosmic hippies, also known as the “tall whites.” These Nordic-looking creatures reportedly have been seen by several people but most predominantly by Charles James Hall, who was a weather observer in the Air Force in Nevada in the 1960s. He said the tall whites had blonde hair, glowing skin, and blue eyes, according to multiple reports on the web. A documentary was made about the tall whites called “Walking with the Tall Whites.”

The movie explains, in Hall's words:

The tall whites had a base near the desert range.

The Nordics would come into the barracks of the base and have discussions with military generals. Hall claimed to have heard them talking.

They were aloof but not hostile, sometimes accompanied by their children.

Encounters ranged from terrifying to oddly mundane.

Hall documented his experiences in the "Millennial Hospitality" book series.

The tall whites are very fragile, and could die from being stung by a bumble bee, Hall claimed.

The U.S. government built the tall whites an underground base, Hall said. Newspaper reports in the 1960s referenced a secret military project being undertaken in that region but the story never was updated. In exchange for the base, the tall whites shared some of their advanced technology, Hall said, but they would not share secrets regarding the propulsion of their spacecraft.

Hall said Tall Whites can live to be 800 years old but are very fragile. He described the beings as "white as a piece of paper" with smallish ears and noses and about half as much hair on their heads as a human. Their eyes glowed blue or pink, Hall said.

The Vegetable Man

According to a video posted by West Virginia University Extension, an encounter with “the vegetable man” occurred in 1968 in Fairmont, W. Va. A man that was hunting woodchucks said he stumbled upon a creature that resembled a blade of grass, with suction-cup appendages tipped with needles. The witness said the creature talked to him and said he came in peace and was sick and needed medical attention. The man gave “veggie man,” as locals refer to it, a hug and this gave the creature power and it ran away.

According to WOWK News, “Gray Barker, a Braxton County native and Clarksburg resident, was a known hoaxster from the 1950s through the 1980s who specialized in UFOs and paranormal events, and a collection of his research and correspondences is kept in the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library. Among Gray Barker’s extensive collection is a firsthand account from Jennings H. Frederick that details the ‘vegetable man.’”