First claimed alien abduction

The earliest documented example of what would today be called an alien abduction, or "close encounter", narrative was published on 27 November 1896 in the Evening Mail of Stockton, California, USA. A Colonel H G Shaw recounted a meeting with "three strange beings" that had descended from an "immense airship". The slender, seven-foot-tall creatures reportedly tried, but failed, to communicate with the two men before boarding their mysterious craft and disappearing.

The narrative was presented as a factual, first-hand retelling of an encounter that took place on the night of 25 November, between Lodi and Stockton, California.

It's worth mentioning that during the "yellow journalism" era of the early 20th century, popular newspapers in the US had a quite relaxed attitude towards publishing what could be best described as "unlabelled works of fiction". The 27th was also the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), which has traditionally been a very slow news day.

On the other hand, "H G Shaw" (Colonel Henry Glenville Shaw, veteran of the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry) was definitely a real person. Shaw was a decorated Civil War soldier and later National Guard officer, who was a well-known California journalist, Republican Party functionary and civil servant. His companion, Camille Spooner, also shows up in local census records of the time.

The account was one of many from this period to describe mysterious airships roaming the skies over the USA. Airships were a still largely theoretical technology, but were widely seen as the future of transport. In other stories from this era, however, the operators of the airships were either never seen, or described as ordinary people (though often foreign).