Close Encounters of the YouTube kind.

March 10, 2007 4:31 PM

Tin-foil Sunday: What's the deal with this infamous web-video of a strange creature in a Spanish/South-American forest?

I'm talking about the freaky The fallen angel/alien creature of Spain/South America, depending on who posts it on youtube or any other clip-repository.

First, I personally do not believe for a second in any of the flying-saucer stuff. So no, it isn't 'real'.

However.. this clip seems to be of a pretty decent quality. It may actually be low-budget, but it just seems to 'work' very well, and did in fact freak me out the first time I saw it.

Does anyone know who (and how) anyone would make such movies? Is there anything behind it? A clip from some obscure production? A viral commercial video?

Oh, and another candidate for the same questions: the "Mexico alien".

posted by Harry to media & arts (9 comments total)

CHUPACABRA!!
posted by dantekgeek at 4:46 PM on March 10, 2007

Not much on the video. All I see is some feathers and el cagadero that got caught by the camera. Definitely this is El Cagadero - spooky.
posted by JJ86 at 5:10 PM on March 10, 2007

Viral commercial, or people just wanting to try to make their own Blair Witch Project for the fun of it...

The "fallen angel" one works very well because it looks very organic and they build up suspense. The skinny person in the make-up / bald-cap moves quickly in an unexpected way, and the cameraman reacts to it in a genuinely freaked out way. Plus, most people aren't used to seeing the freaky eye-shine of infra-red night filming.

The "Mexico Alien" one doesn't work as well, because the cameraman doesn't react as much, and you can't easily see the "alien" (I only saw it in the second slow-mo close-up).

I hope you aren't getting paid to spam this, that'd be really assinine.
posted by CKmtl at 5:11 PM on March 10, 2007

Easy to make video. Buy a VHS camera for $35 on eBay, have your friend pose naked with a shaved head in some brush... boom. When shabbiness is the main factor in the realism, it's easy to make your video really really "real."
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 5:28 PM on March 10, 2007

It's a naked bald guy. Next?
posted by Mwongozi at 6:31 PM on March 10, 2007

WARNING FOR MAC FIREFOX USERS. Clicking that first link "The fallen angel" CRASHED FIREFOX. (I'm running Firefox 1.5 on an Intel Mac, OS 10.4)
posted by lorimer at 9:01 PM on March 10, 2007

Worked for me.

(Firefox 2.0.0.2, OS X 10.4.8, PPC)
posted by docgonzo at 11:11 PM on March 10, 2007

Heh.. no, I'm not getting paid for this. Just a late night (well.. middle of the night) 'WTF' post.

Ok.. I admit it wasn't that fantastic. I suppose that, just with the 'I found a digital camera in the woods' stunt a few years back, a little vague back-story helps in creating mystery. But I agree.. taken purely for what is seen in the clip itself, it's just a nekkid dude.

I promise I won't post when I'm half asleep anymore ;)

Now, back to your regularly scheduled geekiness.
posted by Harry at 4:48 AM on March 11, 2007

I saw the Mexico alien video on TV, and several others like that one. It seemed to be fake. It was not a viral ad.

There are at least two UFO/paranormal TV shows in Mexico, and a latinamerican cable channel. Supposedly, people send their home videos, and I'm pretty sure the shows make their own (fake) videos too.

For some reason, most Mexicans believe in UFOs. It's very common to see weird lights or spots in the sky here.
posted by clearlydemon at 11:11 PM on March 11, 2007