South Park: 12 Most Paused Moments

The original episode of South Park – Cartman Gets an Anal Probe – saw Ike Broflovski get abducted by aliens, leaving the rest of the boys to save him. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone envisioned for the show to feature more storylines involving alien encounters and extra-terrestrial beings. However, they decided against this because they thought the series would verge too far into the genre of science fiction.

Nevertheless, a recurring gag left in the show was to place an alien in the background of many episodes, as a way of echoing the show’s origins and also as a nod to the real-life South Park in Colorado which has been known for its UFO sightings.

It’s a myth that a hidden alien can be seen in EVERY episode, but there have been more than 100 examples of this gag. Sometimes the visitors are in plain sight, other times they’re mixed within a crowd and occasionally, they're even camouflaged in the background. That’s why when you’re casually binging South Park and notice an alien for yourself, it’s all the more satisfying to pause at your own discovery.