A gargoyle on a historic 13th Century abbey has caused a social media sensation with its resemblance to the monster from the Alien films.
A photograph of the gargoyle at Paisley Abbey, which looks like one from the 1980s movie, has gone viral on Facebook and Twitter.
The Reverend Alan Birss said most of the gargoyles were replaced during a refurbishment in the early 1990s.
He thinks that one of the stonemasons must have been having a bit of fun.
Mr Birss, minister at the abbey, said that 12 medieval gargoyles which had been on the abbey for hundreds of years had to be taken down in 1991 because they had "crumbled and were in a very bad state".
The purpose of the grotesque figures was to take rain water away from the roof in the days before down pipes.
Just one of the original gargoyles was left outside the abbey to show how they would have looked, although there are medieval grotesques inside the building.
The stonemason created 12 new gargoyles
Mr Birss said a stonemason from an Edinburgh firm was contracted to create the new gargoyles.
"I think it was a stonemason having a bit of fun," he said.
"Perhaps the film was fairly new when they were carving this and if he was thinking of an alien perhaps the alien from the film was his idea of an alien.
"I'm sure he wasn't deliberately copying the alien in the film. It was just a concept of an alien."
Mr Birss said an internet search showed that someone had pointed out the similarity as far back as 1997.
"But it obviously did not pick up and take off then like it has now," he said.
Church officer Matthew McIntosh said: "It is a beautiful building. Paisley gets a bad press but the abbey is the jewel in the crown.
"People will be surprised and delighted by everything they see outside and inside."
Scientist Missing for over 30 years Found Living Inside Secret LSD Drug Lab Hidden in Basement.
A Couple from Cottage Grove, Minnesota discovered a man living inside a secret laboratory inside their basement. On Friday, May
A Couple from Cottage Grove, Minnesota discovered a man living inside a secret laboratory inside their basement. On Friday, May 15th 2015 officers with the Warrington County Sheriffs Office went to the Morgan family’s home after receiving a call reporting a possible
A Couple from Cottage Grove, Minnesota discovered a man living inside a secret laboratory inside their basement. On Friday, May 15th 2015 officers with the Warrington County Sheriffs Office went to the Morgan family’s home after receiving a call reporting a possible break in. When the officers pulled up they saw the Morgan Family standing by the road.
“They ran up to us and said they heard a man shouting inside their basement and that’s when they called it in to 911” Said Captain Bruce Normans with the Warrington County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers say that they could hear the man yelling in the basement the moment they entered the Morgan’s home. But when they moved cautiously into the basement they saw nothing. However they could hear banging sounds coming from behind the northern wall of the Morgan family’s basement, specifically echoing from behind a large storage cabinet.
“It was a very odd situation. We assumed the possibility that a vagrant may have been trapped behind the cabinet and needed help” Officer Jim Catelli told Channel 6 news.
When the Officers moved the large metal cabinet they uncovered an entry way to a large hidden room in the basement. The room was full of various science equipment along with a terrified, elderly man. The 83 year old man was identified as Dr. Winston Corrigan, a chemistry professor from the University of Minnesota who went missing in the fall of 1984 and was a previous resident of the home.
“He had clearly been living down there for a long time and had suffered severe psychological trauma.. probably from not socializing with anyone for a while…or from ingesting a lot of the drugs… I don’t know if he had been living down there since the 80’s but I wouldn’t doubt it” Said EMT personnel Landon Choler.
Dr. Winston is currently being held at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis for observation. He will eventually be sent to the state psychiatric ward in Prairie Hills Clinic where he will undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine the extent of any psychological damage and possibly reintroduced to modern society.
“I just can’t believe it….it’s just so odd. The family that used to live there moved because they said the house was haunted so I guess that makes sense now.” Said a neighbor who had lived next door for 33 years.
The Police recovered over $500,000 worth of lab equipment stolen from the University, along with 3 hand guns, an assault rifle, 50 years’ worth of military grade rations and twelve 55 gallon barrels (including three almost empty barrels) of what DEA labs have identified as pure liquid Lysergic acid diethylamide, a powerful hallucinogenic drug more commonly known as the street name LSD or Acid.
