October 31, 2023
Screenshot/Provided video/Ring
Even videos of obviously fake aliens, like the ones pictured above, can score prizes in Ring’s Million Dollar Search for Extraterrestrials contest.
For nearly a month now, Ring has been asking users of its doorbell cameras for unaltered videos of aliens creeping by their homes. Scientific evidence of extraterrestrial life is a big ask, but it comes with a big prize: $1 million.
The Amazon-owned company's expensive search for ETs also features a goofier, more attainable goal. Ring users who submit creative "interpretations" of alien encounters could win $500 Amazon gift cards — and as a few entries reveal, the competition is heating up.
In one video the company shared ahead of the contest's Friday deadline for submissions, a small and expressive alien chills near a leafy stoop before discovering it's been caught on camera and quickly fleeing the scene.
In another submission, shot in grainier black-and-white footage, a plastic alien slowly rises into the camera frame with a chilling message from outer space... about car warranties.
And in a third entry, an alien attacks a man for his Halloween candy bowl, minus all the candy. Apparently, they don't love Reese's Pieces as much as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" implied.
According to the official contest rules for Ring's Million Dollar Search for Extraterrestrials contest, these videos will be judged based on creativity, visual appeal and humor. Like the videos vying for the $1 million grand prize, they must be no longer than one minute and captured during the contest period of Oct. 4 through Nov. 3. That means there's still time to submit, if you have an old Stitch or Xenomorph costume lying around.
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