EbenThe Serpo Exchange
In 2005 a series of anonymous emails to a UFO mailing list described 'Project Serpo', a supposed 1965 exchange in which twelve American servicemen travelled to the planet Serpo in Zeta Reticuli and lived among its inhabitants, the Ebens, for thirteen years. The story contains internal contradictions and no supporting documents, and is generally regarded as fiction.
At a glance
- Home system
- Zeta Reticuli (lore)
- Avg. height
- 4′3″ – 4′9″
- Appearance
- Grey-like with more human features, tan skin, large dark eyes
- Reported lifespan
- Described as 350–400 years
- Social structure
- Described as village-based and communal
- Technology
- Described as advanced but pastoral in daily life
- Primary traits
- Hospitable, patient, communal
- Relationship to Earth
- Alleged 1965 exchange programme with twelve US military personnel
Physical profile
The Serpo emails described Ebens as about four and a half feet tall, with large heads, large dark eyes, tan or brownish skin, small noses and mouths, and bodies more human in proportion than a Grey's. They were said to be a single race with little variation, living in small communities under a bright double sun.
Reported origin
Serpo, a planet in the Zeta Reticuli system according to the story, with two suns and a hot, dry climate. The choice of Zeta Reticuli ties the narrative to the Hill star map.
Culture
Communal villages, no money, a simple agrarian daily life alongside advanced technology, and a warm welcome for the human visitors.
Technology
Interstellar craft, described vaguely, and a claimed 'energy device' brought back to Earth.
Craft
A large craft that carried the exchange team from Nevada to Serpo in the story.
Communication
Spoken language learned by the team over their stay, plus limited telepathy.
Earth encounters
Beginning in November 2005, a person using the name 'Anonymous' sent a UFO discussion list a series of messages describing Project Serpo: an exchange in which twelve US military personnel left Earth in 1965, lived on Serpo for thirteen years, and returned in 1978 with eight survivors. The story drew on earlier rumours associated with the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, whose climactic exchange scene it resembles. Researchers identified contradictions in the astronomy and timeline, and no document has ever supported it.
Lore & history
XenoAtlas lists the Eben as fictional and contactee lore: a story that circulated as a leak and reads as a novel.
Source notes
- Project Serpo · encyclopedic summary
XenoAtlas documents extraterrestrial concepts appearing in mythology, contactee literature, popular culture, speculative accounts, and related sources. Inclusion does not constitute scientific verification.
Related species
See every type in the Types of Aliens guide.