LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — During the late-night hours on April 30, family members living in a Las Vegas valley home reported seeing aliens in their backyard.
According to two witnesses, a pair of very tall "non-human" beings were seen in a Northwest Las Vegas backyard, just minutes after a fireball was seen in the sky.
The family called 911 and Las Vegas Metro cops came, but only part of the mystery seems to have been solved, though the story has gone international in the weeks since.
Doug Poppa, a retired local podcaster and a former cop in Virginia, has interviewed some of the family members, though they don't seem to be talking to the news media lately.
"Angel, the son, said he saw something coming down from the sky," Poppa said. "He said it crashed in his backyard. They said they saw two creatures walking away from whatever it was that came down."
In the weeks since, Poppa has talked about the incident on his podcast several times, and news agencies from CNN to Reuters have done stories.
At Channel 13, we're certain of at least one thing when it comes to this story — the fireball in the sky was a meteor.
That's according to Mike Hankey of the American Meteor Society. He said the bright meteor was in the sky about 100 miles or so north of Las Vegas and, thereby, visible to many in the valley.
The problem is that meteors last for such a short time, people usually don't even notice them.
"It only lasts for a few seconds," Hankey said. "To see something like what some saw that night, that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You have to be looking in the right place. People saw it not only in Las Vegas, but in Utah and California. It was a fireball high at the edge of our atmosphere."
As for the alleged aliens in the backyard, nothing has been seen around town.
We thought it might make sense for aliens — if they have landed here on Earth — to go to the E.T. Fresh Jerky store, which is in a remote spot about two hours north of Las Vegas on the way to Rachel.
Alas, Kristy Lamb, manager of the store, says there have no alien sightings.
"I have been following the story," Lamb said. "Honestly, I have no idea what happened there. I want to know more about all of it myself. I want to know where the aliens are headed. Maybe they'll stop by here and get some jerky."
After responding to the call, Metro cops returned later to install cameras outside the home in question.
Beau Kallas, who lives in the neighborhood, says he does believe that alien lifeforms could be out there somewhere, but he hasn't seen anything strange.
"I'm not sure what happened that night; I'm not sure a lot of people do know," Kallas says. "We're kind of conspiracy theorists, my wife and I, so we're not surprised this stuff happens here in Nevada. We have Area 51 here, right around the corner."
