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No pyramid, but the Valley gets a UFO tower

Brief by Central Staff

UFOs – November 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine

Nevada has been promoting one of its highways as a good place to watch for UFOs.

And the Comfort Inn in Falkirk, Scotland — where 350 sightings have been reported since 1992 — held an “extraterrestrial weekend” last spring; it was so successful that the hotel now promotes it as a regular event.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the San Luis Valley, featured in at least two books and some magazine articles as a site of mysterious and perhaps extra-terrestrial activity, will start catering to this form of tourism.

In early October, the Saguache County Commissioners granted a conditional use permit to Judy Messoline, who plans to erect a UFO watch tower on her land north of Hooper and just off state highway 17.

Along with the tower, she plans to open a gift shop on the 10-acre site. Her permit allows for up to 20 vehicles to park overnight there, but no camping will be allowed. She intends to operate only in the summer.

“It ought to be fun,” she said. “We need something different down here, and maybe this is it.”