In 1893, Sidney Alan was born in northern Pennsylvania. In 1944, he developed the idea for the Eastern Virginia Scientific Research Centre (EVSRC), which was officially established in 1946. Sidney died in 1954, but the organization continued growing and gained considerable public recognition between 1956 and 1958. On November 27, 1966, the EVSRC discovered an unusual spider-like organism in Eastern Virginia. It was designated 11-27-66-338562 and nicknamed “Alan” after Sidney Alan. The final numbers, 338562, were interpreted as 3:38:56 PM, with the final 2 representing PM. At discovery, the creature was only around the size of a woodlouse. Between 1967 and 1988, the EVSRC continued numerous research projects, with the mysterious Alan spiders becoming one of its major areas of focus. From 1971–1974, researchers discovered that Alan could mimic human behavior. From 1975–1979, it began constructing crude human-like houses from webs, including rooms, doors, and sometimes staircases. Scientists increasingly suspected that the creatures were observing and learning from humans. During 1980–1981, research made little progress. By 1982–1985, the spiders had grown to approximately 4–5 feet tall, requiring researchers to place them in specially designed rooms separated from humans by glass for safer observation. 1986–1987 brought another period of little progress. On September 20, 1988, three coworkers attempted a direct face-to-face interaction with one of the spiders. The creature suddenly became enraged and attacked them. One coworker's leg was crushed and fractured, another's wrist/arm was crushed and fractured, and the third was comparatively lightly scraped. All three initially survived despite the injuries being considered near-fatal. The incident resulted in the Alan project being declared defunct and eventually led to a $20,000 lawsuit against the EVSRC. In 1989, the EVSRC opened an official website containing information about its research and past projects. Then, in 1998, the Alan spiders were rediscovered. Between October 24 and December 18, researchers began finding evidence that the creatures had been secretly killing humans at night. On December 18, scientists attempted to communicate with them using Morse code. The spiders responded. They revealed that “Alan” was not their preferred name—the species called themselves “Talon.” They were an extraterrestrial species that had been studying humanity for decades. Their previous mimicry of humans and construction of human-like houses had partly been attempts to communicate, but their anatomy made physical communication extremely difficult. Their intentions, however, were far from peaceful. The Talons considered humans a “waste of space” and intended to eventually take over Earth. Rather than openly invading, they planned to eliminate humanity subtly, using their knowledge of human behavior to kill people without immediately revealing themselves. Between 1999 and 2000, the EVSRC's reputation became severely tarnished as the truth surrounding the Talons and the organization's history became increasingly damaging. In 2001, a shutdown was announced, and in 2002, the EVSRC officially ceased operations. The organization's website remained online for archival and research purposes, but its pages stopped receiving updates in 2011. In 2012, one of the coworkers injured during the 1988 attack—the one whose leg had been crushed and fractured—died from sepsis resulting from complications associated with the injury. By 2015, the EVSRC had become largely forgotten by the public. Its abandoned website remained as one of the few surviving records of the organization, its experiments, and the creatures it once believed it was studying. The disturbing truth was that for decades, the humans thought they were studying the Talons. In reality, the Talons had been studying humanity.
