Over the last week, a brownish hovering object has been spotted multiple times in the skies of Second Life, and several residents of the virtual world now claim to have been abducted. Cricket Sunchaser said he was minding his own business, when "[out of] no where, this blue beam with a startling sound sucks me up into some giant spaceship." The abductors apparently did no harm and released Sunchaser quickly. But welina Jade, who also claims to have been snatched up by the ship, is more wary. "I found the operator of the ship to be a very strange being," said Jade, who fears the ship will return.

Naturally, rumors have run rampant in Second Life about the UFO and its implications on the developing communities and their residents, including concerns about violations of intimately personal privacy. Teeny Leviathan commented, "Now I gotta get to work on making kevlar, probe-proof drawers," referring to the in-world building tools that enable the inhabitants of Second Life to create clothing, buildings, vehicles or whatever else they might dream up. Meanwhile, other Second Life residents like James Miller and Darwin Appleby welcome an abduction experience, somewhat reminiscent of the Heaven's Gate community. However, these people definitely want to stay in this Second Life.

Naturally, there are skeptics. People who claim to have been abducted have long been labeled as pranksters, attention seekers or characterized as being highly suggestible and somewhat out of touch with reality. Second Life resident Roo Jones said of the claims, "Some people have such imaginations, they should write for those little newspapers in the grocery stores." Others doubters say anyone can customize their avatar in Second Life to be as realistic or as fantastical as they would like, which would account for the appearance of the alien abductor. However, they feel that an alien spacecraft and abduction reports are too farfetched.

This image of the craft was taken by a resident!

Still, believers cite in-world photographs they say show a brownish angular craft with what look like lights and a tractor beam of light as irrefutable evidence (see screenshots). If it is indeed aliens, it cannot be ascertained whether they are merely curious to explore the intricacies of the recently launched virtual world, or if they are altogether bored with earth. Agents Mulder and Scully declined requests for comment.