While it's true that we never got a sequel to Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, real-life events could be about to give us something much better.
The story of a pot-bellied little alien accidentally coming to Earth, befriending us, and then heading home has become a classic. In reality, there are fears that if extraterrestrials actually come to our humble planet, it'll be more like Independence Day, Mars Attacks!, Signs, or any of the other hostile alien stories Hollywood has churned out over the years.
Up there with flat Earth and JFK, conspiracy theories about aliens are some of the most popular, which hasn't been helped by the existence of Area 51.
Now, the tin foil hats are out in force after a bizarre 'Dorito-shaped' aircraft was apparently spotted near the secretive military base.
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Although we were somewhat disappointed that the secrets of Area 51 weren't revealed in 2025, last year was full of plenty of alien intrigue.
Notably, the mysterious 3I/ATLAS sparked theories that this supposed comet was actually an alien mothership. Even as it headed toward Earth, hype surrounding 3I/ATLAS dissipated pretty quickly.
It looks like we've found something new to theorize about, as The Aviationist reported on the crisp-shaped aircraft that's been spotted near Area 51.
Anders Otteson is a self-confessed backpacker and videographer who claims to have noticed the unknown craft when he was in the Nevada desert on January 14. At about 3 am local time, Otteson says he saw a 'Dorito-shaped' object flying near where he was camping on Groom Lake Road.
Having heard what sounded like 'multiple' aircraft in the valley, Otteson said he wasn't able to see any visible lights, so he pulled out his thermal imager: "Eventually a B-2 passed overhead, and I then saw a second contrail above the ridge line near Groom Lake but it was out of range to get a clear picture of it."
Adamant that the second craft wasn't a B-2, he added: "The trailing edge immediately looked different than the B-2, in which the distinctive jagged trailing edge was visible.”
Even accounting for distortion, it's said that this shape is distinctly like a Dorito. Still, even Otteson admits that the fact there was a B-2 in the area means it or another blended wing aircraft might be mistaken for the soaring snack.
The site reminds us that this flying Dorito bears a striking resemblance to a similarly triangular UFO that was seen in broad daylight over Kansas in 2014. The Aviationist maintains the Wichita image is legitimate and unaltered, leading to swirling theories about what's going on.
The Wichita incident was similarly interesting due to its proximity to aircraft manufacturing and testing facilities, as well as heightened tension with Russia following the invasion of Crimea.
Otteson's Dorito craft is the third similar sighting, as also in 2014, three triangular planes were seen flying at high altitude over Texas' Amarillo. These were more boomerang-shaped, so not identical to the Wichita image, although the timing was suspicious, as they were snapped just a month after Kansas.
When Otteson discussed his sighting during a YouTube livestream with Dreamland Resort's Joerg Arnu, the latter said there was an unusually high number of codewords picked up on the audio scanner that night.
Throwing more fuel on the fire, he suggested that the military using playful mentions of everyday items like 'Corona', 'pretzel’, and 'Michelob' could’ve been used to hide the true nature of what was going on out there.
No official explanation of the Wichita craft was ever offered, although it's said that despite flying over a decade later, it’s strikingly similar to Otteson's one.
It sounds like this could be a case for Mulder and Scully.