According to Peter Rogerson writing in Magonia magazine, the concept of alien implants can be traced to a March 1957 Long John Nebel radio show interview with UFOlogist John Robinson where Robinson recounted a neighbor's claim of being kidnapped by aliens in 1938 and kept subdued by "small earphones" placed behind his ears.
It is often contrasted with the better known extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), and is particularly popular among UFO researchers in the United Kingdom, such as David Clarke, Hilary Evans, the editors of Magonia magazine, and many of the contributors to Fortean Times magazine.
Agobard of Lyons also referenced a related belief amongst his parishioners--a belief that tempestarii were in league with a mythical race of cloud-dwellers who came from a land named 'Magonia' ("Land of Magic", "Land of Thieves").
Magonia |
On the Tempestarii and Magonia see Valerie I. J. Flint, The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe, Princeton Univ.