Falkville Metal Man Sighting

On October 17, 1973, around 10 PM, 26-year-old Falkville, Alabama Police Chief Jeff Greenhaw received an emergency call from an anonymous, hysterical woman reporting that a UFO with blinking lights had landed in a field owned by Bobby Summerford on the outskirts of town. Although off duty, Greenhaw responded in his patrol car, equipped with a Polaroid camera. After searching the field without success, he turned onto a narrow gravel road. Approximately 75-100 feet ahead, illuminated by his headlights, he saw a 6-foot-tall humanoid figure standing in the road. The being was covered head-to-toe in a shiny, wrinkled metallic suit resembling aluminum foil or a reflective fire suit, with what appeared to be an antenna protruding from the top of its helmet-like head. It had no visible facial features. Greenhaw stopped, exited, and began taking Polaroid photographs. The figure remained mostly still at first, then began moving away in a jerky, mechanical fashion with long strides. Greenhaw returned to his vehicle, activated the blue lights, and pursued, but the being outpaced the car easily, disappearing into the darkness. Greenhaw reported the incident immediately. The Polaroid photos were widely published by wire services and appeared in newspapers across the U.S. Greenhaw faced significant skepticism and personal repercussions afterward, eventually leaving law enforcement. The case occurred during the major 1973 UFO flap.