Some Halloween costumes are cute. Some are clever. This one looks like a tiny UFO rolled into the neighborhood, grabbed a kid and decided subtlety was for Earthlings.
The DIY alien abduction costume was made by Duong for her son Milo and shared through Costume Works. The illusion comes from a foam-board flying saucer supported by PVC pipes and a backpack, then loaded up with a clear dome, an alien, lights and streamers. It won Best Costume at a trunk-or-treat, which feels completely fair.
What you need for the alien abduction costume
- Eight foam boards
- Duct tape
- Gold and silver spray paint
- A large clear punch bowl for the UFO dome
- An alien figure or stuffed alien
- Fairy lights and circular lights
- Iridescent streamers
- Two strong PVC pipes
- A sturdy box, expanding spray foam and a backpack
Duong did not publish exact measurements for the saucer or support frame. That is the one part you have to size for the person wearing it. Measure the wearer, the backpack and the doorways the costume needs to clear before cutting eight boards into a spaceship the size of your kitchen.
How the foam-board UFO comes together
Duong arranged four foam boards, drew a large circle across them and divided the circle into 12 sections. She repeated that for the UFO’s top and bottom. After cutting the sections, she removed one wedge from each circle and taped the remaining 11 pieces together. That missing wedge lets each flat circle pull into a shallow saucer shape.
She cut a large center opening in both halves, painted the saucer gold and silver, then attached the clear punch bowl as the dome. The alien sits above the dome. Fairy lights outline the top and bottom, circular lights add the classic UFO glow underneath, and iridescent streamers become the tractor beam.
The backpack is doing the sneaky work
The saucer is not simply hanging from the costume. Duong ran two strong PVC pipes through the UFO and secured them with spray foam. She anchored the other ends inside a box, then placed that box in Milo’s backpack. Once the backpack is on, the frame holds the saucer upright while leaving his hands free.
Test the costume before Halloween night
This is an adult-build project. Follow the product directions for cutting tools, hot glue, spray paint and expanding foam, and use paint and foam only with the ventilation their labels require. Keep the light battery packs secure and easy to reach.
Before adding every last streamer, have the wearer try the backpack indoors. Check the weight, balance, visibility and clearance around doors and stairs. A spectacular costume stops being fun the second its UFO clips a porch railing.
The original entry does not pretend this is a five-minute costume, and neither will we. It is a foam-board engineering project wearing a Halloween costume. But if your household enjoys going wildly overboard in October, Milo’s glowing little spaceship is exactly the kind of ridiculous brilliance worth attempting.
