Pascagoula Mayor Jay Willis stands next to a historical marker that claims aliens came from outer space and abducted two local men in 1973.
Laura Sullivan/NPR
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Pascagoula, Miss., is known for building Navy ships, but city officials say it’s actually famous for two other things.
First, it’s the birthplace of Jimmy Buffett. The city put up a historical marker outside his childhood home.
And then there’s the second thing: space aliens. The city put up a marker for them too.
“It was the evening of October 11, 1973 when two local shipyard workers went fishing,” 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.
“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,” 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.
“Because these two guys had the same story of what happened, how it happened for the rest of their lives,” Willis explains. “This marker is going to be there for a long, long time. It’s a lasting tribute … to what occurred right here in Pascagoula.”
There’s no way to really know what happened that night in 1973, when the men waded headfirst into one of humanity’s 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 180,000 other historical markers dotting the country’s landscape, and NPR found they wouldn’t be the first to claim something that may, or may not, be true.
There’s a marker in Massachusetts that claims the town was once home to a real, live wizard. New York has a marker about a ghost that plays the fiddle on a bridge in the moonlight.
But locals say Pascagoula’s alien marker is no tourist stunt.
“If you’re going to be known for something, why the heck not?” 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’t believe the men’s story.
“They thought they were just off their rockers,” Davis says, standing next to the wooded area by the river where the men said they were abducted. “And we’re in the Bible Belt, you know? Like, my grandma told me, ‘Girl, hush, we don’t talk about that stuff.’”
Rebecca Davis, who used to run Main Street Pascagoula, helped write the marker. She says people today are more open to the idea that the story could be true.
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But as time passed, Davis says, the feeling changed. There was also a recording of the men, who have since died, talking about their experience that believers say gives it credibility.
“People back then, I really think they wanted to believe, but they were scared to believe,” she says, “and now’s a different time, a different age, and more openness.”
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 survey.
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’s first alien markers in 1999 in the high desert near Aztec, N.M., where they say a spaceship crashed in 1948.
“We welded up a metal stand and had a local trophy shop do the engraving,” Scott Ramsey says. They replaced it with a new version in 2007.
“I think it kind of lends credibility to the fact that something did happen there,” he says.
It’s always been difficult to argue with historical markers. That’s 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 race.
UFO enthusiasts say they pass around road trip ideas. Start in Lincoln, N.H., where a marker says Betty and Barney Hill were abducted. Head to Franklin, Ky., where another describes how a National Guard pilot died chasing a UFO. On to Shiloh, Ill., which tells of a “confirmed UFO sighting.”
Fascination with extraterrestrials isn’t new, but what was once left to low-budget sci-fi movies has taken on a new seriousness. There’s declassified military reports, even interest from Congress.
Still, none of it has amounted to much actual proof, and even as Frank Drake pointed the first radio telescope at the stars in 1960, and far more sophisticated probes have been searching for the last 20 years, those efforts have so far been met with silence.
That hasn’t 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.
“As dusk fell a buzzing sound alerted them to a football-shaped craft hovering behind them,” David Ephriam read from the sign as he started to chuckle. “Ain’t this something?” he asked.
Pascagoula’s alien marker is now one of at least 15 that claim extraterrestrials have come to Earth.
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Thearon Ephriam pointed to the city of Pascagoula logo. “They put a whole stand up,” he said, laughing. “Gotta be some truth in it.”
“So we have to be aware when we come out here,” David said.
Thearon raised his eyebrows. “If we see a football-shaped craft we know to get low.”
“If one comes up behind you and looks like a football,” David laughed, “don’t look back, dive.”
However future researchers may view these signs years from now, even UFO enthusiasts wouldn’t argue with that advice.
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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Many American historical markers are funny. Others are strange, and some are just inaccurate. And then there are historical markers like the one you’ll find in Pascagoula, Miss. As part of our series Off The Mark, NPR’s Laura Sullivan brings us a story that’s a bit out of this world.
LAURA SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Pascagoula, Miss., is known for building Navy ships, but it’s famous for two other things. It’s the birthplace of the son of a son of a sailor, Jimmy Buffett.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SON OF A SON OF A SAILOR”)
JIMMY BUFFETT: (Singing) As the son of a son of a sailor…
SULLIVAN: And in his honor, the city put up a historical marker outside his childhood home. And then there’s the other thing – aliens, the extraterrestrial kind. The city put up a marker for them, too.
JAY WILLIS: This is the marker. It’s right here at the boat launch and the little gazebo.
SULLIVAN: City Mayor Jay Willis reads the sign on the edge of the Pascagoula River.
WILLIS: It was the evening of October 11, 1973, when two local shipyard workers went fishing.
SULLIVAN: It says the workers, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, spotted a football-shaped craft.
WILLIS: Out of the craft glided three creatures, who carried them back into the space vehicle. Inside the craft, Hickson was examined by a robotic eye. Then both men were deposited back on the riverbank, and the spaceship shot away.
SULLIVAN: So what’s interesting here is that you guys aren’t hedging at all.
WILLIS: And you know why that is?
SULLIVAN: Why?
WILLIS: Because these two guys had the exact same story of what happened for the rest of their lives.
SULLIVAN: There’s no way to really know what happened to Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker that night in 1973 when the men waded headfirst into one of humanity’s greatest mysteries – are we alone? But what’s interesting is that this marker is stating unconditionally that we are not, and that’s just fine with Mayor Willis.
WILLIS: This marker’s going to be there for a long, long time. It’s a lasting tribute. Not that a website wouldn’t be, but this is a physical, tangible tribute to what occurred right here in Pascagoula.
SULLIVAN: This marker is just the latest of at least 15 nationwide devoted to telling the story of aliens that, apparently, came to visit Earth. They join 180,000 other markers dotting the country’s landscape, and they wouldn’t be the first to claim something that may or may not be true. There’s a marker in Massachusetts that says the town was home to a real-live wizard. New York has a marker about a ghost that haunts a nearby road when it’s misty. But locals say Pascagoula’s alien marker is no tourist stunt.
REBECCA DAVIS: Something happened.
SULLIVAN: Rebecca Davis, who used to run the Main Street development group, makes her way past tall brush by the water.
DAVIS: When they turned around, they were levitated up this way towards the spaceship.
SULLIVAN: Did the community believe them?
DAVIS: No. They thought that they were just off their rockers. And we’re in the Bible Belt, you know? And, like, my grandmother told me, girl, hush. We don’t talk about that stuff.
SULLIVAN: So what changed?
DAVIS: People back then – I really think they wanted to believe, but they were scared to believe. And now’s a different time, a different age and more openness.
SULLIVAN: It’s always been difficult to argue with a historical marker. That’s part of their allure. You can’t rewrite them without taking the whole sign down and starting over, and that permanence has made alien markers an attraction. UFO enthusiasts say they pass around road trip ideas. Start at the Lincoln, N.H., marker about Betty and Barney Hill getting abducted. Head to Franklin, Ky., where a marker says a National Guard pilot died chasing a UFO. On to Shiloh, Ill., home of a, quote, “confirmed UFO sighting.” Enthusiasts say they’re enjoying the legitimacy the markers give their cause. Most are stamped with official emblems and crests – like the one in Pascagoula, where recently, Thearon Ephriam and his uncle, David Ephriam, took a break from fishing to read it.
DAVID EPHRIAM: (Reading) As dusk fell, a buzzing sound alerted them to a football-shaped craft hovering behind them.
(LAUGHTER)
D EPHRIAM: Ain’t this something.
THEARON EPHRIAM: It got to be real. They put – they got a real stand up, so there got to be some truth to it.
D EPHRIAM: It’s sponsored by the city of Pascagoula.
T EPHRIAM: So there’s got to be some truth in it.
SULLIVAN: Both men started to laugh.
D EPHRIAM: So we have to be aware when we come out here.
T EPHRIAM: If we see a football-shaped craft, we know to get low.
D EPHRIAM: Yeah. If one come up behind you and it looks like a football, don’t look back. Dive.
(LAUGHTER)
SULLIVAN: A hundred years from now, people may look at these alien markers and see them in a whole new light. But for now, even UFO enthusiasts wouldn’t argue with that advice.
Laura Sullivan, NPR News.
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