Pascagoula, Miss., is known for building Navy ships, but city officials say it's actually famous for two other things.
First, it鈥檚 the birthplace of Jimmy Buffett. The city put up a historical outside his childhood home.
And then there鈥檚 the second thing: space aliens. The city put up a for them too.
鈥淚t was the evening of October 11, 1973 when two local shipyard workers went fishing,鈥� the marker says, at the edge of the Pascagoula River.
The sign says Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker spotted a football-shaped craft, which took them aboard.
鈥淚nside 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,鈥� the marker says. Stamped at the bottom is the seal of the city of Pascagoula and the Jackson County Historical and Genealogical Society.
Mayor Jay Willis says when it came to writing this marker, authorities saw no reason to hedge.
鈥淏ecause these two guys had the same story of what happened, how it happened for the rest of their lives,鈥� Willis explains. 鈥淭his marker is going to be there for a long, long time. It鈥檚 a lasting tribute 鈥� to what occurred right here in Pascagoula.鈥�
There鈥檚 no way to really know what happened that night in 1973, when the men waded headfirst into one of humanity鈥檚 greatest mysteries: Are we alone?
But the marker is now one of at least 15 that say, without hesitation, that aliens have come to visit Earth.
They join more than other historical markers dotting the country鈥檚 landscape, and NPR they wouldn鈥檛 be the first to claim something that may, or may not, be .
There鈥檚 a in Massachusetts that claims the town was once home to a real, live wizard. New York has a about a ghost that plays the fiddle on a bridge in the moonlight.
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But locals say Pascagoula鈥檚 alien marker is no tourist stunt.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to be known for something, why the heck not?鈥� says Rebecca Davis, who helped write the marker when she ran the development group Main Street Pascagoula.
At first, she says, most people in town didn鈥檛 believe the men鈥檚 story.
鈥淭hey thought they were just off their rockers,鈥� Davis says, standing next to the wooded area by the river where the men said they were abducted. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e in the Bible Belt, you know? Like, my grandma told me, 'Girl, hush, we don鈥檛 talk about that stuff.'鈥�
But as time passed, Davis says, the feeling changed. There was also a of the men, who have since died, talking about their experience that believers say gives it credibility.
鈥淧eople back then, I really think they wanted to believe, but they were scared to believe,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd now鈥檚 a different time, a different age, and more openness.鈥�
That openness has spread across American society. Half of Americans now believe that military reports of UFOs are likely evidence of intelligent life outside Earth, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center.
But openness is different than etching facts into a bronze or acrylic plaque and staking it into the dirt.
Scott and Suzanne Ramsey put up one of the nation鈥檚 first alien markers in 1999 in the high desert near Aztec, N.M., where they say a spaceship crashed in 1948.
鈥淲e welded up a metal stand and had a local trophy shop do the engraving,鈥� Scott Ramsey says. They replaced it with a new version in 2007.
鈥淚 think it kind of lends credibility to the fact that something did happen there,鈥� he says.
It鈥檚 always been difficult to argue with historical markers. That鈥檚 part of their allure. Rewriting them means taking the whole sign down and starting over.
And that permanence has made alien markers an attraction. The Aztec visitor center now hands out maps and hosts the Alien Run mountain bike .
UFO enthusiasts say they pass around road trip ideas. Start in Lincoln, N.H., where a says Betty and Barney Hill were abducted. Head to Franklin, Ky., where describes how a National Guard pilot died chasing a UFO. On to Shiloh, Ill., which of a 鈥渃onfirmed UFO sighting.鈥�
Fascination with extraterrestrials isn鈥檛 new, but what was once left to low-budget sci-fi movies has taken on a new seriousness. There鈥檚 declassified military reports, even interest from Congress.
Still, none of it has amounted to much actual proof, and even as pointed the first radio telescope at the stars in 1960, and far more sophisticated have been searching for the last 20 years, those efforts have so far been met with silence.
That hasn鈥檛 stopped cities from stamping alien markers with official emblems and crests.
On a recent afternoon in Pascagoula, Thearon Ephriam and his uncle, David Ephriam, took a break from fishing to read the sign.
鈥淎s dusk fell a buzzing sound alerted them to a football-shaped craft hovering behind them,鈥� David Ephriam read from the sign as he started to chuckle. 鈥淎in't this something?鈥� he asked.
Thearon Ephriam pointed to the city of Pascagoula logo. 鈥淭hey put a whole stand up,鈥� he said, laughing. 鈥淕otta be some truth in it.鈥�
鈥淪o we have to be aware when we come out here,鈥� David said.
Thearon raised his eyebrows. 鈥淚f we see a football-shaped craft we know to get low.鈥�
鈥淚f one comes up behind you and looks like a football,鈥� David laughed, 鈥渄on鈥檛 look back, dive.鈥�
However future researchers may view these signs years from now, even UFO enthusiasts wouldn鈥檛 argue with that advice.
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