History Main / MistakenForAliens

* In ''Go to Mars'', ''Creator/AbbottAndCostello'' land an experimental rocket ship in New Orleans, and the locals' large papier-mâché Mardi Gras costumes convince them that they've landed on Mars.

* In Amy Thomson's ''Literature/TheColorOfDistance'' has the protagonist, Dr. Juna Saari, spend five years among the alien Tendu, who give her a moist color-changing skin and internal linings that keep her hair from growing and help with the planet's aversion to NoBiochemicalBarriers. When humanity comes back to pick her up, the first contact is with a suited man who thinks she's one of the Tendu, and she plays along for a bit before saying "I believe the line is 'Dr. Livingston, I presume?'"

* "Tomorrow is Yesterday" from ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainFlamingo'': In "[[Recap/CaptainFlamingoS1E14AlienAvalancheThorAllOver Alien Avalanche]]", Max gets very scared after seeing Avi being mistaken as an alien, due to his head getting stuck by a fish tank.

* In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresDeathAndDiplomacy Death and Diplomacy]]'', Franchise/BerniceSummerfield, in an alien culture which has a wide range of races but no known contact with Earth, meets a guy who looks completely humanoid but, to an experienced traveller like her, his body language and so on is clearly off. This is her future husband Jason Kane, a genuine Earth human who was stranded in the alien culture following an AlienAbduction; he plays along for a while before making some sarcastic comments about being patronising to the natives.

* After UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin became the first human to enter space and return successfully, a woman who saw his capsule land asked him, "Can it be that you have come from outer space?" He replied, [[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin "As a matter of fact, I have!"]]
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Most likely apocryphal, since it's now known that he actually bailed out of his capsule, and wouldn't have landed near it.

* An InvokedTrope in TheNineties remake of ''Series/TheProfessionals''. A former ColdWar scientist is selling control of a laser-armed KillSat. To obfuscate his testing of the weapon, and demonstration for an ArmsDealer he's selling it to, he has a couple of his men spread stories of UFO's. In the end everyone gets their just deserts, including the arms dealer who's arrested by [=CI5=] for being an [[ObligatoryJoke illegal alien]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': After the Triceratons invade Earth at the start of Season 3 and leave large portions of New York City devastated, anti-alien sentiments skyrocket among the public with the Turtles occasionally being on the receiving end of their wrath due to the public's growing misconception that they are extraterrestrials. The BreatherEpisode that takes place immediately after the Triceraton invasion has Raph getting chased into an alley and nearly lynched by a vigilante mob who has mistaken him for an alien. Another Season 3 episode has the Turtles battling a group of {{Right Wing Militia Fanatic}}s who want to destroy New York City with a homemade nuke after reading tabloids that report on the Turtles' sightings and misidentify them as aliens. A Season 4 episode has the Turtles trying to rescue the US president after he is seemingly abducted by TheGreys [[spoiler:(really Agent Bishop faking an alien abduction so he can pull some EngineeredHeroics to impress the president into giving his agency more funding)]], only for their [[HelpMistakenForAttack rescue attempt to be mistaken for an attack]] by the president, who thinks the Turtles are also aliens and is terrified of them.

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', the [=DeLorean=] TimeMachine was mistaken for a UFO in 1955 due to its gull-wing doors. The fact that Marty was wearing a radiation suit at the time didn't help. He turns it to his advantage later, when he orders his father [[AliensMadeThemDoIt to hook up with his mother]].

-->'''Larry''': [[{{Catchphrase}} "Hi! I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl!"]]\\

** In the episode "Of Mice and Little Green Men", Dale finally figures out why [[ChocolateBaby his son is very different-looking from him]] and why his wife was able to conceive a child during his absence... aliens impregnated her! Believing his son Joseph is a half-alien hybrid, Dale gives him whatever he wants so that the aliens will spare his life in the oncoming invasion. Joseph, not being the sharpest tool in the shed either, also starts believing this and decides to run away to rejoin his "real" alien family. After that's resolved, Dale convinces himself that the aliens abducted him beforehand and used his DNA to artificially inseminate his wife.

* The ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'' episode [[http://www.tv.com/i-dream-of-jeannie/u-f-oh-jeannie/episode/252763/summary.html?tag=reviews;episode;2 "U-F-Oh Jeannie"]], where Tony was mistaken for a Martian by a group of rednecks in the DeepSouth.

* Done in the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Countrycide", where the team thinks that some aliens are responsible for disappearances and attacks. Turns out, it's a bunch of [[IAmAHumanitarian humanitarians]].

* Naomi of ''Webcomic/DangerouslyChloe'' who concluded Ted and co. as aliens due to [[http://www.dangerouslychloe.com/strips-dc/really_really_interested a series of shenanigans]], watching a [[http://www.dangerouslychloe.com/strips-dc/killer_bikini_babes cheesy B movie]], and [[http://www.dangerouslychloe.com/strips-dc/heaven_and_hell_nonsense ruling out the existence of heaven and hell]], HilarityEnsues.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' has Fred and Barney trying to help a pop-music group that has an "alien" gimmick get to the concert, at the same time that the radio announcer uses an overly-cryptic ad warning people "The Way-Outs are coming!" in a ''Radio/WarOfTheWorlds''-style fashion, and ''this'' makes the rest of Bedrock pull out the TorchesAndPitchforks (he releases a retraction explaining that it was just a joke when the cops come barging into the studio and JustInTime to prevent said angry crowd from setting Fred and his friends on fire).

** In an unfinished episode, Zim tricks Dib into thinking RecurringExtra Poonchy, Drinker of Hate was an Irken invader. HilarityEnsues.

-->'''Agent''': Hmm...Subject has green skin. Imagine! Just like in the funny papers!

* Inverted and played straight in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/VivaPinata''. Fergie Fudgehog is conned onto going onto a defective rocket ship that crashes. When he comes out, his foggy helmet makes his friends look like aliens to him, and it makes him look like an alien to his friends! Needless to say, {{Hilarity Ensues}}.

** Most likely apocryphal, since it's now known that he actually bailed out of his capsule, and wouldn't have landed near it.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "The Lawndale Files" is largely based on this. Some [[MenInBlack mysterious government agents]] coming to the school, plus various characters acting odd for various reasons, make Daria and Jane start to low-key wonder if aliens are invading, even though they both know that's ridiculous. Meanwhile, other characters misinterpret their comments to think that ''they're'' aliens.

->''"Mars and Venus?! You mean he thinks we're from--"''
-->-- '''Charlie Bucket''', ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator''

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Monk}}'', Monk crosses paths with a group of U.F.O. chasers while investigating a woman’s murder, with his neurotic mannerisms causing them to think he’s an alien in disguise. After he solves the case and simultaneously proves the U.F.O. was just a fake (the cases were connected, [[ItMakesSenseInContext long story]]),

[[folder:Videogames]]

* Wanamingos in ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' are rumored to be aliens (or monsters summoned by "Injuns" as revenge for what the white man [[AfterTheEnd did]] to [[GaiasLament the world]]). They're actually a BioweaponBeast created by the pre-war US government and turned up loose in the Wasteland. It doesn't help that they look a lot like [[XenomorphXerox Xenomorphs]] and the game labels them as "aliens" and not "Wanamingos" when you encounter them outside of the Great Wanamingo Mine in Redding.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' animated series featured a government agent and a scientist mistaking The Mask for a hostile alien due to a series of coincidences (not that it's hard to mistake him as such in the first place...)

* In the ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' movie, when Mario and Luigi are escaping from the police force, a news report identifies them as "alien plumbers".

* A running gag in ''Manga/SquidGirl'' - [[HotScientist Cindy Campbell]] and her [[StupidScientist colleagues]] are convinced that [[CuteMonsterGirl Ika Musume]] is from outer space, and they would very much like her to [[TheyWouldCutYouUp visit their laboratory]].