Saturday kicks off the beginning of UFO day in Fyffe Alabama, site of an incredible encounter with a boomerang shaped craft in 1989. With believers and skeptics alike descending on the town the atmosphere is expected to be generally festive and open but with all present asking questions about the UFO phenomenon, the legends behind it, and the evidence that is in the public eye for scrutiny.
The seed of the idea began in 1989 when witnesses gathered along the road to wait and watch a mysterious craft shine incredible lights against the starry night sky. As the witnesses waited and watched with wide open eyes, each asking themselves what the object could possibly be, the official conclusion was not atypical for an encounter so incredible and potentially life changing. Fyffe Alabama had been host to visitors from another world.
Whether visitors consider them extradimensional, extraplanetary, or extrasensory in origin, the topic will certainly be on the table for discussion. With the incredible object making return appearances several nights in a row many residents remember the event fondly as though it were a circus passing through town more than potential contact that could change the course of history.
The event is expected to host 10,000 terrestrial visitors this time and is intended to generate revenue for the town and tap into the paranormal tourism market. As with the Roswell festival in July, the event will host speakers and vendors selling their own slice of evidence in the form of documentaries, photographs, and novelty items.
Still other residents are unhappy about the event suggesting it calls the town's credibility into question. It's interesting to note how the prospect of an alien festival where free thought and speculation as well as story telling are discouraged even while other festivals of an even more ostentatious nature are seen as normal. During football season super fans often wear very little in the cold November weather and paint themselves blue to show their support for local teams. Such is the double standard that often is witnessed perhaps as disturbingly as some of the more dramatic alien visitation stories themselves.
UFO festivals largely serve to allow visitors an outlet to sound off on all things unusual and mysterious. They have a purpose as a much needed point of interest for witnesses all over to share stories of incredible encounters and meet other who have likewise seen similar things. Though the festive atmosphere is not as conducive to catharsis as an abductee's group therapy session, it does paint the phenomenon in a more jocund light that often leaves visitors feeling less terrified of the unknown. And since this terror is one of the things that largely keeps the story in the dark, many will find it a welcome alternative to remaining silent about this pervasive and important world issue.
And even as the festival is ongoing, many eyes will be turned to the sky to examine whether or not tourists from other worlds will stop in as well.
