You remember the sound. It's a rhythmic, mechanical clicking—yip-yip-yip-yip-uh-huh, uh-huh. For a lot of us who grew up parked in front of a tube TV, the aliens on Sesame Street weren't just some puppet bit. They were a bizarre, slightly unsettling, but ultimately hilarious introduction to the idea of the "other." These creatures, officially known as the Martians (or Yip Yips), represent a masterclass in minimalist puppetry that has somehow outlasted decades of flashier CGI characters.
They don't have legs. They don't have arms. They're basically just floating rugs with ping-pong ball eyes and a mouth that opens like a garage door.
Jim Henson and his team were geniuses at taking the mundane and making it cosmic. When these blue and magenta visitors landed on the street, they weren't looking for a leader or trying to vaporize the neighborhood. Honestly, they were just trying to figure out what a telephone was. Or a clock. Or a toaster. It was a mirror held up to our own confusion about technology, wrapped in a fleece-covered package that vibrated whenever it got excited.
The Weird Origins of the Yip Yips
It started in 1972. Sesame Workshop (then the Children's Television Workshop) wanted to explore the concept of discovery.
Most people think the aliens on Sesame Street were meant to be scary. They weren't. Actually, the design was intentionally simplified so that even the youngest viewers could understand their expressions. The "Yip Yips" were created by Jim Henson and built by the legendary puppet designer Wendy Midener. The trick was in the jaw. By using a simple pull-string or hand mechanism to make the bottom of the "face" drop away, Henson created a look of permanent, wide-eyed shock.
It's a classic comedy trope: the "fish out of water." Except in this case, the fish are intergalactic travelers and the water is a rotary phone.
Why the Minimalism Works
The puppets are basically tubes. If you look closely at the vintage clips, you can see how the fabric folds. There’s no complex animatronics here. It’s pure soul. The performance—originally voiced by Jim Henson and Frank Oz—relied almost entirely on the "Yip" and "Nope" vocabulary.
Think about the "Radio" sketch. The Martians approach a transistor radio. They try to communicate with it. They "yip" at it. The radio plays music, and they immediately try to mimic the sound. When the radio turns off, they get scared and hide inside their own bodies. It’s a loop of curiosity, terror, and eventually, acceptance. This taught kids about the scientific method without ever using the word "science." Observe. Hypothesize. Get scared because the toaster popped. Re-evaluate.
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The Aliens on Sesame Street and the Fear Factor
Let’s be real for a second. Some kids were absolutely terrified of them.
There's something about the way they glide. They don't walk; they just sort of exist in a different physical space than the humans on the street. It's that uncanny valley feeling. They have those long, slinky-like necks that can stretch, and when they get really frightened, they pull their heads down into their bodies like a turtle made of shag carpet.
The sound design played a huge role too. That yip-yip-yip is catchy, but the low-register un-hunh, un-hunh can sound a bit ominous if you’re three years old and the lights are low.
But that was the point of Sesame Street in the 70s and 80s. It wasn't afraid to be a little weird. It didn't talk down to kids. By showing these aliens on Sesame Street struggling to understand a simple clock, the show made the world feel a little more manageable for the children watching. If these "advanced" space travelers couldn't figure out a door handle, it was okay if you couldn't tie your shoes yet.
Not Just the Martians: Other Cosmic Guests
While the Yip Yips are the undisputed kings of the Sesame galaxy, they weren't the only ones.
We had the "Me" aliens. We had various one-off creatures that appeared in animated segments. But the Martians are the ones who stuck. They became a cultural shorthand for "clueless visitor." They’ve been parodied on Family Guy, referenced in late-night monologues, and are a staple of every "90s kids remember" nostalgia thread on the internet.
The longevity of the aliens on Sesame Street is actually pretty wild. You have to realize that Sesame Street has cycled through hundreds of characters. Remember Roosevelt Franklin? Or Don Music? Many characters get retired because they don't test well with modern audiences or they're deemed a bit too "of their time."
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But the Martians? They are timeless.
Because they aren't tied to a specific human trend, they never age. A kid in 2026 can watch a clip of the Martians discovering a computer from 1985 and the joke still lands because the reaction to the technology is what's funny, not the technology itself.
The Secret Sauce of the "Yip Yip" Performance
How do you make a piece of fabric feel like a living thing?
- Rhythm: The yip-yip cadence is musical. It follows a call-and-response pattern that is hardwired into human brains.
- Vulnerability: They are constantly failing. They get things wrong 90% of the time. We love an underdog, especially one from Mars.
- Physicality: The "scrunch." When they recoil, it's a universal sign of "I'm not sure about this."
The puppeteers who took over the roles from Henson and Oz—people like Martin P. Robinson and Kevin Clash—had to maintain that specific "floaty" movement. If they moved too much like humans, the illusion broke. They had to remain alien.
Why We Still Talk About Them
Google search data shows a consistent spike in "Sesame Street aliens" every few months. Usually, it's triggered by a viral tweet or a parent showing their kid the "Telephone" sketch for the first time.
But there’s a deeper reason. We live in a world where technology moves faster than we can keep up with. Every week there's a new AI, a new gadget, a new way to communicate. In a weird way, we’ve all become the aliens on Sesame Street. We’re all standing in front of the metaphorical "radio" of the future, yipping at it and hoping it doesn't bite back.
The Martians represent our collective confusion. They make it okay to be baffled by the modern world.
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Actionable Insights for the Nostalgic (And the Curious)
If you're looking to dive back into the world of the Yip Yips or introduce them to a new generation, here is the best way to handle it:
- Start with the "Telephone" Sketch (1972): This is the gold standard. It’s the first appearance and perfectly establishes their logic. They think the phone is a cow, then a bird, then a monster.
- Watch for the "Earth Home" details: Notice how the Martians always carry a "book" about Earth that is almost always wrong. It’s a great lesson in why you shouldn't believe everything you read.
- Check out the 40th Anniversary cameos: The Martians made several appearances in later seasons that proved the puppetry hadn't lost its edge. They even "met" some of the newer Muppets, creating a bridge between the old-school Henson era and the modern show.
- Focus on the Sound: If you’re a creator or into puppetry, study the audio. The Martians prove that you don't need complex dialogue to tell a story. You just need a solid "Uh-huh."
The aliens on Sesame Street didn't just teach us about objects; they taught us about perspective. They showed us that the things we take for granted—like a ringing bell or a ticking clock—are actually pretty miraculous if you look at them through the eyes of a visitor.
Keep yipping. It’s the only way to make sense of the universe.
How to Use This Knowledge Today:
Next time you encounter a piece of tech that makes zero sense, don't get frustrated. Channel your inner Martian. Give it a few "yips," acknowledge that it's weird, and if all else fails, just hide inside your shirt until it goes away. It worked for them for fifty years, and it'll probably work for you too. Explore the official Sesame Street YouTube channel's "Classic Clips" playlist to see the original film stock versions of these sketches; the grainy texture of the 70s film actually adds to the "lost footage" vibe of the Martian landings.
The best way to appreciate the craftsmanship is to look at the "behind the scenes" footage of the Jim Henson exhibits often touring museums like the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. Seeing the Yip Yip puppets in person reveals just how much of the "magic" was just clever stitching and a very talented arm.
The legacy of the aliens on Sesame Street isn't just a meme; it's a reminder that curiosity is a universal language, even if your language is mostly just "Nope."