One of the stars of the original Alien film has opened up about what he says has been a jaw-dropping lifetime of experiences involving actual aliens and UFOs.
In a remarkable interview with the website Vice, actor Yaphet Kotto claimed that he has had ongoing interactions with extraterrestrials, beginning with an initial encounter when he was nine or ten years old.
Since that time, Kotto says, "it has been 50 years of me dealing with these UFOs and aliens."
Over the course of the conversation, the actor details several dramatic UFO sightings that he's had over the years as well as his suspicions of having experienced missing time and possibly being abducted.
As to why he was suddenly sharing these stories, Kotto said that, for reasons he cannot quite explain, "I just decided I was going to do it this year. I've gotten to a place where I can no longer hold them privately."
Additionally, he noted that "this is the time to reveal this because no one can connect it to anything that's a financial gain or form of media exposure."
He explained that, in the past, skeptics could accuse him of simply using his experiences to promote the Alien film, but with decades having passed since the movie was released, he now feels unburdened by that potential connection.
Nonetheless, Kotto points to the iconic scene in the film where an alien bursts out of one of his co-star's chest (seen below) as a pivotal moment in his own development with regards to the phenomenon.
According to him, the filmmakers had not explained to the actors how the dramatic emergence of the creature would unfold, leaving them startled by the experience.
"That freaked everyone out and sent us into a trauma. All of us," Kotto mused, "that brought me back to everything that I had experienced up until that point relating to aliens and UFOs. I became a ufologist at that point."
Despite that self-perceived change, the actor remained relatively silent about his personal experiences, sharing them only with his wife, his rabbi, and a psychologist until this recent interview.
The remarkably candid conversation suggests that Kotto is unburdening himself from something that has clearly haunted him for decades.
"I really don't care whether anyone thinks I'm delusional. My delusion is over," he mused, "I've taken a position on that."
Whether Kotto's revelations lead to the actor becoming a part of the UFO community remains to be seen, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him emerge as a strong advocate for the enigma now that he has told the world about his own experiences with the phenomenon.
Source: Vice