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| “ | Don't look, don't look! | „ |
| ~ Em trying avoid eye contact with the UFO. |
| “ | What if it's not a ship? | „ |
| ~ OJ foreshadowing the true form of the UFO. |
The UFO, also known as Jean Jacket, (Scientific name: Occulonimbus edoequus) is the main antagonist of the 2022 science fiction western horror film Nope. Unlike traditional depictions of a spacecraft piloted by extraterrestrial beings, it is a massive airborne creature adorned with tough, scale-like plating.
In its natural form, the alien resembles a large jellyfish with a square-shaped singular eye that is safeguarded by hundreds of protective green ribbon-like eyelashes. These lashes sway and undulate in a pattern that lures in unsuspecting wildlife and humans to gaze at Jean Jacket. Instead of employing conventional predatory methods like biting, the UFO's mouth extends to engulf its ensnared prey whole, then employs its arms to transform into a conventional UFO.
Naming[]
Otis Haywood Jr dubs the creature "Jean Jacket" after a family horse that refused to be trained and remained wild.
Kelsi Rutledge, a graduate student at the University of California, came up with the scientific name Occulonimbus edoequus, after studying marine creatures such as jellyfish, cuttlefish, octopus and manta rays.
Biography[]
Prior life[]
While the UFO is thought to be an extraterrestrial being, its origins are shrouded in mystery. It is not clear if it is a lone being or a member of an entire species. In either case, it (or its species) may be what humans have been calling "flying saucers" and mistaking for spaceships in their imagination.
It first makes its presence known over a horse ranch belonging to the Haywood family, which it chooses as its territory, stationing itself in one spot over a hill with a cloud obscuring it. After eating some unidentified human hikers, the UFO regurgitates the inorganic remains, such as keys and coins, directly over the ranch. The materials are shot out at bullet-like speed, with a coin piercing the head of Otis Haywood Sr., who later dies at a hospital. A key is left lodged deep in the hide of his horse.
Nope[]
OJ and Emerald become aware of the UFO through its effects on their ranch and try to take video evidence of the craft. They enlist the assistance of electrician Angel Torres and cinematographer Antlers Holst and first place a statue of a horse as bait for the spacecraft, only for it to be tossed back because it is indigestible.
Somehow during that time, Ricky "Jupe" Park, a former child star and owner of the Jupiter's Claim amusement park, witnesses the alien craft and decides to make a spectacle out of it as a method of reclaiming some relevancy in the modern world. Unfortunately for him, the UFO arrives and consumes him and the entire audience inside where they all suffocate and later get slowly digested in its "stomach".
The UFO later appears above the farmhouse and drop tons of blood along with debris over the house, marking its territory before leaving the farmhouse.
Working together to create a trap for the monster, OJ offers himself as bait for the extraterrestrial anomaly while Angel and Antlers do the recording. Using sky dancers and loud music as lures, the UFO arrives and attempts to claim OJ. Antlers, obsessed with getting the perfect shot despite the risk, goes to allow himself to get eaten while recording in order to get that shot. Angel is nearly devoured as well, but he escapes his fate through the use of barbed wire and a tarp wrapped around his body.
Enraged that its prey got away, the UFO slowly morphs into a horrifying jellyfish-like caped creature, which is revealed to be its true form. OJ tries to lure it away from his sister to give her enough time to escape via a (now-dead) TMZ reporter's motorbike. The UFO, catching on, begins to chase Emerald to Jupiter's Claim, where she goes to the Wishing Well to take a picture of Jean Jacket via coins of the dead parkgoers scattered on the ground. Thinking quickly, Emerald unhooks a large balloon version of Jupe which floats up to distract the UFO.
The UFO takes the bait and it eats the balloon whole, unaware it was an inanimate object instead of living prey. Emerald then takes this chance and snaps a clear shot of Jean via the camera inside the well.
Jean turns back into its hunting form, and tries to fit the balloon inside of its digestive pouch inside its mouth. However, the balloon cannot fully fit inside the beast, and it explodes inside of Jean's intestines, causing the eldritch being to be blown into tiny pieces, apparently killing it and avenging the deaths of the people and animals it killed, including Otis Sr..
Afterward, OJ and Em presumably tell the public the events of the UFO incident, due to being able to get a picture of it, finally able to get proof of the UFO's existence.
Appearance[]
In most of the film, Jean Jacket takes the appearance of a typical UFO monster saucer shape that is grey in color. However major differences include the fact that its shape is not a perfect circle, but an eccentric truncated oval shape (similar to a flat tire or a grey cowboy hat). On the underside or "bottom" is a large hole, where Jupe describes (in a scene where he is presenting his "Star Lasso Experience") that the hole is two school bus lengths in diameter. A typical American school bus is approximately 14 meters long; therefore its diameter is roughly 28 meters.
The Jean Jacket UFO is roughly 110 meters in diameter, and 20 meters thick at its widest point.
Its outer skin has a fabric-cloth like texture, and at the front is a tiny slit-like recess which might be the UFO's front eye. The hole on its bottom also has another eye used to observe prey.
In the climax, the alien unfolds itself into a more massive form as a threat display which looks similar to a jellyfish or a Biblical angel.
Abilities and behavior[]
Jean Jacket is able to hide itself inside clouds, move them, and cause them to precipitate (pour rain and other material). Alternatively, it may be that it assumes the form of clouds instead of entering them, or somehow creates moist fog from its outer skin like a cloak. In either case, it is capable of moving very quickly through the air, and can travel faster than the speed of sound (noted by the repeated sonic booms).
It behaves similarly to a predator, feeding on living beings that look into it. It has limited intelligence, and it can be subjected to luring and "taming".
When Jean Jacket is nearby (within 400 meters), all electricity stops working. It is not known if it has any control or knowledge of this effect. Speculation by fans indicate that Jean Jacket uses a powerful and invisible electromagnetic pulse field that obscures and interferes with electron flow, which is also responsible for its ability to levitate and move around freely.
Jean Jacket hunts by the use of its ability to form tornadoes from its bottom hole, that sucks up any animal or person that looks directly at it (the visibility of eyes in its direct view are perceived as an instant dinner). The UFO however cannot distinguish the difference between eyes of actual living prey and the ones on printed/drawn inanimate objects, most notably the fake horse, the cowboy balloon at Jupiter's Claim, and the tube man flags.
Hunting[]
How Jean Jacket eats its prey is subject to debate. However, its is proven that after sucking people or horses into its hole mouth, they enter claustrophobic intestine-like organs of the creature, which also glow in an eerie orange/pink color. Victims scream in terror as the muscles squeeze tightly, crushing the victims as they suffocate and wretch due to the lack of oxygen and digestive acids. Jean Jacket may also kill its prey instantly as soon as the unfortunate gets sucked in its hole mouth, by instantly crushing the prey using its powerful 'intestinal' muscles into a mass of blood and flesh pulp, before digesting it. Any metal and inorganic matter gets regurgitated out at high velocity downwards.
List of victims[]
- At least 11 horses
- Missing hikers (unknown number, minimum of two)
- Otis Haywood Sr. (inadvertently)
- Ricky "Jupe" Park and his family
- Mary Jo Elliot
- Over 40 visitors and staff members at the Star Lasso Experience
- TMZ reporter
- Antlers Holst
Trivia[]
- Before the release of the film, the UFO was predictably thought to be a spaceship operated by aliens.
- Unlike many villains, Jean Jacket does not kill out of malice, but instead because of it being an animal, not capable of differentiating right and wrong. This contrasts Jupe, who is aware of his own actions.
- Many people thought that the name of the movie was an acronym for Not Of Planet Earth. Director Jordan Peele confirmed in an interview that this was false.
- Jordan Peele stated the design for Jean Jacket is based on the Angel Sahaquiel from the anime remake of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- It is suggested that the US government knew of the UFO's existence prior to the movie due the entire valley being blurred out on Google Maps and how any and all deaths are reported as accidents (Otis' death was reported as a coin falling out of a plane and the missing people of Star Lasso were reported to all be washed away by a flash flood). However, this is ambiguous, and these could be explained by Jean Jacket itself causing visual disturbances on satellite images and the authorities simply guessing the cause of the strange deaths as best they can.
- It is theorized that Jean Jacket's true form is based on the design of the Seraphim and Ophanim from the book of Ezekiel of the Bible, which is, in a certain way, the reason Jean Jacket was an amorphous being.
- It is possible that the UFO is a symbol for people's desire to film and commoditize everything without considering the risks. It was established with Gordy and Lucky that Hollywood tends to not treat animals (or humans) with respect and constantly wants to use anything and everything for entertainment. Because Jupe did not learn from his experience with Gordy, he did not respect the boundaries of the UFO and used it for his attraction, which leads to him suffering the consequences.
- The UFO takes the form of a giant balloon that unravels and folds itself between its true form and hunting form. Balloons are of symbolic importance throughout the movie.
- According to Nope VFX supervisor Guillaume Rocheron, Jean Jacket's homeworld is an Earth-like planet where they can "ride the wind and air currents skillfully."
- While this explains why the alien shows little to no adverse reactions when breathing Earth's atmosphere and devouring the animals that make up its biosphere, the question on how this creature managed to find its way from its native home onto Earth without suffocating from the lack of oxygen in space still remains up for debate and speculation.
- The way Jean Jacket unfolds from hunting form to true form may be based off of the real life vampire squid.
- Many critics have compared Nope favorably to the 1975 hit Jaws. Jean Jacket and the shark from Jaws share similarities:
- They both chose to attack one location: Jean Jacket attacks the horse ranch while the shark attacks the Amity Island beaches.
- Their hunting style is similar: The shark will find a trail of blood in the water, find the source and eat it, while Jean Jacket will kill anything that looks at it.
- Both prefer to stay hidden during much of the film: The shark will only show a fin and its head when attacking while Jean Jacket will quickly streak through the sky in blink-and-you'll-miss-it shots or hide itself amongst the other clouds.
- They have similar deaths, both involving compressed air: The shark was blown up after the oxygen tank lodged in its mouth was shot and Jean Jacket's digestive system failed to properly digest the balloon, which popped and killed it.
- It is unknown on how or why Jean Jacket has that ability to turn off all electronic devices within the vicinity. If their world is similar to Earth, then there is a possibility of other life forms on there and how else would they have technology on there when it's considered to be an "animal" that's meant to be primitive.
- If there were additional species of Jean Jacket, it is unknown how they give birth and mate, how their lives begin or end, and whether they will hunt and consume other species.
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 Villains
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