The Thanamalwila and Weeriyapura Alien Scare

Uva Province, Sri Lanka. July 2006. Thanamalwila lies in Moneragala District. Weeriyapura lies in Badulla District. On 6 August 2006, The Sunday Times reported recent sightings "in several parts of Sri Lanka." Later accounts suggest the scare may have reached as far as Galle. In two villages of Uva, it would keep whole communities awake through the night.

Thanamalwila. Two children and their grandmother were returning home from a bath in the river. Standing in the middle of their path were three small figures, described as "not more than two feet tall." The children told the media the three "persons" had dark complexions and wore hats. No words were reported. Shortly after being spotted, they disappeared.

More reports followed. Over 50 people said they had seen the creatures. Some said they had stumbled upon footprints left behind. A later UFO database entry, citing Sri Lankan newspapers, painted a different picture: short grey beings with large blue eyes, three fingers and three toes, and pink lights hovering and taking off vertically over the area. Its original submitter added a warning: "I do not take any responsibility for their accuracy." Which version the 2006 papers actually printed remains unchecked.

In Weeriyapura, the visitors looked different. Villagers found unusual footprints and burnt marks on the ground, and rumours spread that UFOs had landed. Somapala, a shop owner, described the intruders. "It is quite strange that these so-called aliens wear boots and are dressed in black. They roam around the village at night, knocking on doors, but no robberies are reported."

A woman resident spoke of the toll. "More than 250 villagers are up at night. It has badly affected the normal routine of the villagers. Some monks at the temple have noticed several people running about at night fully clad in black." She said the so-called aliens watched women bathing and peeped through windows. Many villagers slept by day and kept watch by night.

Chief Inspector C.L.D.M. Wijayapala of the Badulla Police suggested that "maniacs or drug addicts" or "gangs planning robberies" could be behind the incidents. Police were on the look-out for mischief makers. No arrests were reported.

Sarath Gunesekera, a scientist at the Space Application Division of the Arthur C. Clarke Centre, was blunt. "Aliens should come with a mission to achieve which does not include treasure hunting or knocking on doors." He suggested laser lights or mirages could be mistaken for UFOs. Dr. Chandana Jayaratne of the University of Colombo noted that meteorites had been visible in recent months, and said research was being conducted into whether the sightings were real or a fake. No result was ever published.

The villagers had their own answer. Somapala believed the figures were "a gang of robbers trying to distract the villagers" so they could rob buried treasures. Rumour placed that treasure at the Sri Bhavana Dhammaramaya temple in Weeriyapura. Police, local scientists and later writers largely attributed the sightings to disguised thieves. Nothing was proven. Nobody was ever named.

Thanamalwila never became an international case. It survives in a 2017 Roar Media survey of Sri Lanka's strangest sightings, and in a database entry calling it a "Grey Alien Wave." Five years later, the grease devil crisis of 2011 brought night prowlers and village vigils back to Sri Lanka, with police calling the "grease yaka" a myth.