Folks love the aspect of extraterrestrial life, whether through reported abductions to fantasy stories such as “E.T.” and “Close Encounters” on the Big Screen. The popularity of life beyond our earth is why there are not one but two World UFO Days. The June 24 date recognizes the 1947 UFO sighting by aviator Kenneth Arnold and the July 2 date commemorates the UFO incident — and cover-up if you believe the theories and “X-Files” episodes — that took place the same year in Roswell, New Mexico.
Roswell
What better place to enjoy a UFO festival than Roswell, where in 1947 debris found by a farmer was believed to have been a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft, one that was covered up by the United States government, according to a variety of UFO conspiracy theories. Whether or not the crash was a UFO, Roswell has become UFO central and has hosted a UFO Festival every year since 1996. This year’s event will be July Fourth weekend and include speakers through the city’s UFO Museum along with music, food and vendors. For information, visit ufofestival.com.
Fyffe
On Feb. 11-12, 1989, more than 50 people, including the chief of police, reported seeing odd objects flying over the small northeastern Alabama town of Fyffe. The rash of UFO sightings, and the thousands of people who arrived looking for these flying saucers, resulted in the town being labeled the UFO Capital of the World. To celebrate this moniker, Fyffe hosts the Fyffe UFO Day Festival on Aug. 22 with food, music, arts and crafts, kids’ activities, and more.
Pascagoula
Pascagoula, Mississippi doesn’t celebrate its famous UFO event, where two local shipyard workers, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, enjoying some fishing along the Pascagoula River were taken aboard a football-shaped extraterrestrial spacecraft on Oct. 11, 1973. But the city did mark the spot with a historical marker created by the Pascagoula and the Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society. The marker states: “Inside the craft, Hickson was examined by a robotic eye, then both men were deposited back on the river bank and the space ship shot away.”
Out West
Comedians love to portray UFO spotters with southern accents, mostly due to the rash of sightings that happened in the 1970s by those south of the Mason-Dixie Line. But there have been sightings throughout the country. A local couple in McMinnville, Oregon, spotted a UFO flying over their farm in 1950 inspiring the town to start a UFO Festival, which had its 26th incarnation this past May. So many out-of-this-world theories abound at California’s stratovolcano Mt. Shasta, once revered by Native Americans and now drawing visitors looking for the tall peace-loving and technically-advanced Lemurians who live inside, a legend born from literature.
Where to Look for UFOS
By now you’ve realized that UFO sightings occur everywhere. One way to spot potential extraterrestrial beings are by visiting regions with Dark Sky designations. In other words, skies where stars are plentiful and light pollution is minimal if not non-existent. The Buffalo National River in Arkansas flowing through the Ozark Mountains offers great viewing opportunities and Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park is a certified Dark Sky Park, located within the Okefenokee Swamp. Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky was designated a Dark Sky Park in 2021, best enjoyed in the park’s fields and parking lots near the visitor’s center.
