Judy Messoline was a cattle farmer staring into the abyss of bankruptcy when the sky above her suggested a way to financial salvation. Aware that the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado, where she farmed, was believed by many to be the favourite earthly landing-strip for aliens, Mrs Messoline converted her barn into a UFO watchtower.The 59-year-old divorcee painted a billboard, lined the road with metal alien replicas and waited for the hoards to descend. She soon discovered that her drought-plagued dairy herd would no longer be her main cash cow."When I came here I started hearing stories of UFOs flying around at night and I thought maybe there's a tourist trap for me out there," she said. "I still can't quite get over the result. I get thousands and thousands of visitors."The overwhelming majority of those who travel to the remote desert valley each year do so in the hope of catching a glimpse of extraterrestrial activity.And the locals, a mix of sun-baked cowboys and American Indians, readily attest that there is something special about the night sky there. Explanations range from unusual air currents to air-traffic activity of an extraterrestrial kind.An average of 75 people a day now come to the farm to scan the sky for UFOs. Mrs Messoline charges no admission but asks for donations and makes a profit on the T-shirts, model flying saucers and bug-eyed extraterrestrials she sells in the farm shop.Interest in life beyond Earth has been on the rise since scientists revealed earlier this year the existence of water on Mars.
View: Full Article | Source: Telegraph
