The Owls are Not What They Seem

I wrote this article a few years ago, but I think it is time I revisited this topic. Owls have always been one of my favorite birds, so when I learned that they have some connection with aliens and the supernatural, well, I had to dig my heels in. This is what I found.

Twin Peaks: Where My Fascination Started

In Season 2, Episode 1 of the hit show Twin Peaks, Major Briggs delivers a special message to Special Agent Dale Cooper, who is investigating the mysterious death of a teenage girl in the town of Twin Peaks.

The owls are not what they seem.

Although Twin Peaks is a work of fiction, there seem to be a lot of pulls from real-life encounters with... owls. And/or aliens. Yep. Aliens.

Owls in Mythology & Lore

As it turns out, the owls might really not be what they seem. Of course, that depends on who you ask. For hundreds of years, owls have been regarded as pseudo-mystical symbols of vast wisdom. Native American tribes often reserved the owl for their shamans. In Ancient Greek mythology, the owl was the symbol for the goddess Athena. Ancient Christians, on the other hand, linked owls with Adam's first wife Lilith, who, through her disobedience, became associated with evil.

Owls and Aliens

If you ask a UFOlogist or someone who claims to be an abductee or witness, you might get some different associations. That's right, there are some people out there who claim that owls are linked to experiences with extra-terrestrials. In fact, you can visit Mike Clelland's blog and get an earful of interviews on the subject.

Probably one of the most well-known experiences is the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter. On August 21, 1955, five adults (including Billy Ray Taylor and Elmer Sutton) and seven children walked into the Hopkinsville (a small town in Christian County, Kentucky) police station and claimed that they had just been in an hours-long stand-off with small, dark creatures at the Sutton farm. You read that correctly; they were in a shootout with what were assumed to be owl-like aliens.

When police arrived at the farm, they found evidence of gunfire but nothing else. The next day, Taylor, his wife, and two of the Suttons (who were itinerant carnival workers) had packed up and left. Neighbors told the investigating officers the next morning that the residents had left after the creatures apparently returned at 3:30 AM.

The creatures were described as having claw-like hands, massive pointed ears, and stood from about two to four feet in height. They would appear in doorways and windows and quickly vanish before the residents could shoot them.

Skeptics believe that the story is rather fabricated and that the creatures could have simply been Great Horned Owls or Eagle Owls. However, some UFOlogists believe that there is no evidence to suggest that real owls were involved or that this could have been a hoax.

The Mawnan Owlman

This is far from being the only report of an encounter with aliens that somehow is linked to owls. In fact, there are cases where owls have been seen around the time of a reported alien encounter. One such report comes from Cornwall, England, which is as far southwest as you can get in England. In the village of Mawnan, there have been multiple sightings of what is known as the "Owlman" since the 1970's.

​On Easter in 1976, June and Vicky Melling, who were on holiday with their parents at the time, reported seeing a bird-like man hovering over Mawnan Smith Old Church. The story made the rounds, of course, as most stories do in small UK towns.

Over the years, other accounts were added to the mix, including one from 1998. A woman was driving from Mawnan to Gweek (which is only about 7 miles from Mawnan) at about 11 PM when she saw a bright, glowing orange light about the size of a beach ball hovering in the air. She parked her car and watched it, losing track of time. She ended up losing two hours of time, though it felt much shorter. When she exited her groggy state, she saw what looked like an owl-human hybrid hovering about 15 feet in the air. The woman did know of the "Owlman" legend, which skeptics suggest could have influenced what she thought she saw.

However, another sighting happened in 2003, as Liz Randall's daughter reported seeing lights over Old Church. It happened around 2 AM, as Liz's daughter sat in a car with her friend, listening to music. (They didn't want to be rude and awaken their neighbours with the music.) The women reported seeing a bluish-white block of light pulsating in the air above them. They, too, lost track of time and eventually went home feeling extremely fatigued.

Death and Pagan Symbols

Owls have also been associated with death and the occult. Just ask these Reddit users about their experiences. While it is hard to give credence to stories told on the Internet, some of these stories are pretty compelling. (Scroll down that page and read the comments from user "lauriemama".)

The truth is that owls have long been a part of Pagan lore. (Side note: I am proudly Pagan.) In Scottish Gaelic, we call them cailleach-oidhche which, interestingly enough, translates both to "owl" and "spiritless fellow". Cailleach is the term used for the crone goddess of winter. She is revered as the ancient Earth itself, full of earthly wisdom and overseer of transformations and death. Owls act as guides to the dead going through the underworld. This is why we are taught to revere owls, and some of us pay particular homage to Cailleach and her owl companions around Samhain (a.k.a., Halloween) because this day represents the merging of the Old Year and the New.

Are Owls What They Seem?

Whatever the case, owls seem to have this strange, inexplicable synchronicity with the supernatural and extra-terrestrial experiences. Or, at least, that's what many reports claim. If, in fact, any of these eyewitness reports are true, should we fear owls? Should we revere them?

Are the owls not what they seem?

References:

The Collectors: A Canadian UFO Experience by Corina Saebels

hidden experience

The Hidden Lives of Owls: The Science and Spirit of Nature's Most Elusive Birds by Leigh Calvez

Mysterious Universe Podcast 19.07

The Messengers: Owls, Synchronicity and the UFO Abductee by Mike Clelland

​"The Owl-UFO Connection Continues"

"Owls - Symbology and Mythology"

​"Owls & UFOs" - David Weatherly