Answered by David Clarke, associate professor in the Department of Culture and Media at Sheffield Hallam University
Humanity’s perception of what alien life forms and envisioned future humans with massive heads and huge eyes but tiny bodies. This bears more than a passing resemblance to the most recognisable rendering of an extraterrestrial being: the so-called ‘grey’ alien. Later, Steven Spielberg’s 1977 blockbuster film and Whitley Strieber’s 1987 book helped reinforce this template of a small, big-headed creature with huge eyes, and ingrained it into popular culture.
