The true story of Nome, Alaska

Many people became interested in the US city of Nome after seeing the science fiction film The Fourth Kind. That’s because the film is about the people of Nome being abducted by aliens. The filmmakers have admitted that the story in the film is not true. But the real story of the city is just as interesting as many films are.

About 3,600 people now live in Nome, which is on the Seward Peninsula on the coast of Alaska. But up to 20,000 people lived there in the early 20th century. They came from all over the world to pan for gold on its beaches and many of them became rich as a result. You can still pan for gold in Nome but don’t expect to get rich - there isn’t much gold left there now!

The native people of Nome are called Inuit and they have lived there for thousands of years. In 1925 many Inuit started dying from a disease called diphtheria. They needed medicine from the city of Anchorage. But the weather was so bad that airplanes couldn’t bring it to them.

Instead a team of mushers and dogs brought the medicine from Anchorage to Nome by running more than 1,800 kilometres in the snow. They saved the people and became heroes. Every March, sled dog teams commemorate what they did by racing from Anchorage to Nome in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The race lasts up to two weeks and is the biggest sporting event in Alaska.

Nome people are proud of their history and culture. Many of them were not very happy about the way their city was portrayed in The Fourth Kind. In November 2009, the film’s makers at Universal Pictures agreed to give $20,000 to the Alaska Press Club for using fake news reports about people disappearing in Nome to promote the film.