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We’re seeking plausible stories, novels, films, and any other media that relate closely to the following problem:
A single alien is stranded on Earth. It seeks to avoid contact with our leaders and institutions by winning the trust of human children. Other than the movie “ET,” is there a story about that? (Ideally one with a different perspective than that famous film?)
Chocky by John Wyndham (although the entity isn’t necessarily stranded)
It by Stephen King (the being underlying Pennywise is ’empathic’ to children)
There was a 50’s-60’s B-film about a group of children on an Air Force(?) base who witness an alien landing. It was like a sentient rock. Twenty years before Close Encounters, this alien also had a memorable musical signature.
“Zero Hour” by Ray Bradbury, in The Illustrated Man. Aliens previously thwarted in invading Earth teach children how to let them in through games and promises of influence over their parents.
I immediately thought of the 1951 movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. Although it doesn’t start with no institutional contact, it does work with winning the trust of a human child.