The fossil that inspired Alien: 300million-year-old relic which designer used to create extra-terrestrials in sci-fi classic
28 ene 2013
Most of us do not believe in aliens but
looking at this strange fossil might just make you stop and think.
This relic is in fact the ancient
fossil that inspired the extra-terrestrial antagonists in Ridley
Scott's classic sci-fi horror, Alien.
The creator of the titular Alien was
Swiss surrealist artist, Hans Rudolf Giger, who was sought out by
Ridley Scott to design the creatures after he saw Giger's artwork
Necronom IV, one among his many designs that are said to have been
based on the fossils.
Alien abduction: This
300-million-year-old fossil, which inspired the artist who designed
the extra-terrestrial antagonist of the Alien films, was stolen and
and later returned to a Swiss museum
Mr Giger's designs - one of which was
all too memorably seen bursting out of a character's chest on screen
- went on to win his team an Academy Award for Best Achievement for
Visual Effects on the 1979 film and the franchise that followed.
But the stranger than fiction fossil is
actually the remains of an early form of life that existed on our own
planet an incredible 300 million years ago.
And the extremely rare fossil captured
the public imagination so much when it went on display in Switzerland
that it not only attracted plenty of visitors, it also tempted a
thief.
Police believe the thief - who broke
into the case and stole the Aathal dinosaur museum's prize exhibit -
is a fossil collector.
The iconic scene in Ridley Scott's film
when one of the alien's wrapped itself around John Hurt's face
The relic was the inspiration for
Ridley Scott's blockbuster film Alien
Last week police released the photo in
a bid to find the exhibit and track down whoever who took it.
And now the priceless piece has been
returned after it was put into the museum's post box tucked inside a
padded envelope.
Museum curator Dr. Thomas Bolliger
said: 'It was comparatively undamaged - although one of the arms had
broken off.
'It really is a remarkable fossil and
shows two separate species of a spineless animal that lived at the
bottom of the sea around 300 million years ago.'
A museum spokesman added: 'It is a very
valuable but also a very unique fossil and it will be very difficult
for anybody to sell or indeed to keep secret given the publicity
around the theft.'
Inspired: Necronom IV by H.R. Giger is
based on the ancient Swiss fossils and is the artwork that got Mr
Giger the Academy Award-winning job as head of the Alien design team
Source: Dailymail
