Google is running a doodle on its homepages around the world celebrating the 66th anniversary of the famed Roswell UFO incident, which took place on this day in 1947. Legend has it that a UFO crashed on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. The government, acknowledging the incident attributed it to a military surveillance balloon, but some believe it to have been an alien spacecraft carrying extraterrestrial life.
Theories about the incident have been frequently tossed around for decades. Wikipedia has a pretty extensive article about them.
The doodle itself is particularly noteworthy, as it’s a playable game, not unlike some doodles the company has run on occasion. The PAC-MAN doodle and the hurdles doodle Google ran for the Olympics last year come immediately to mind. In this one, you guide an E.T. around after his space ship crash lands, collect items, and help him get back to his ship. You can see the action here:
The final image (pictured at the top) of the animated and interactive doodle recalls this famous newspaper cover story about the incident at Roswell:
