Aliens have long been a source of wonder, fear, and conspiracy theories. So much so that there are a startling number of landmarks based around visiting aliens, and an equally startling number of towns that base their tourism trade on aliens.
The most obvious of these is Roswell, New Mexico. In 1947, something fell from the sky into a ranch. The army alleged that it was a weather balloon, but a story started going around that it was a UFO that the army was trying to cover up. The army has tried its best to prove that there was no UFO in Roswell, but to this day enthusiasts continue to investigate the alleged UFO. Instead of being embarrassed at this bit of history, Roswell has embraced it for tourism purposes. The city holds a UFO festival every year featuring a costume contest, speakers, a parade, and an “alien chase” walk or run. It also has a UFO museum with information about the incident and a UFO sightings log and a gift shop. The incident is one of the most debunked UFO sightings, but it’s probably safe to say the hype will never die down.
Judy Messoline moved to the San Luis Valley in the Rocky Mountains and after realizing that UFO-watchers would visit her land and hearing her neighbours talk about the strange things they would see in the sky (the San Luis Valley is revered a UFO-sighting hotspot), she built a UFO watchtower as a joke. Soon, people started flocking to it, and now there’s a gift shop and a log book of UFO sightings. The property is also home to what various psychics visiting the property identified as a vortex: a portal to an alternative universe. In fact, there’s two of them.
And in South Carolina, Jody Pendarvis has built a UFO Welcome Centre made to look like a UFO. It’s not a joke: he has a smaller saucer on top of the welcome centre, which is meant to be his ride off this planet when the aliens come to take him away. Pendarvis is happy to show any visitors the Welcome Centre, which he started building in 1994. However, information on the UFO Welcome Centre says to call ahead to visit, but confusingly, adds that Pendarvis rarely picks up or returns calls. The UFO faithful will just have to take their chances.
A little bit closer to home, the town of St. Paul, Alta., boasts the world’s only UFO landing pad. Some towns build the world’s largest Santa Claus, and some welcome aliens. The proposal to build the landing pad came in 1967, and a UFO tourism information centre was built in the 1990s, which also includes a UFO hotline. The landing pad has been visited by, unexpectedly, Queen Elizabeth II and Mother Theresa. Perhaps they’re hiding something?
Whether or not you believe in aliens, you have to admit they’re good for tourism: these are all tiny areas with a robust tourism industry based on unearthly visitors. So this Halloween season, keep an eye on the skies: maybe you’ll be the next to spot a visitor from far away.
