VMS Eve and VSS Enterprise over the Virgin Galactic spaceport.
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Southwestern ranchers and alien hunters aren't the only people who have spotted UFOs -- even astronauts have encountered oddities in outer space while in orbit. Ufologists have analyzed space shuttle videos to try to piece together unexplained visions, although NASA has usually debunked their findings. You can decide for yourself at NASA's launch headquarters, where footage from space flights runs in immersive exhibits, and astronauts stop by every day for Q&As. For the center's 50th anniversary, NASA buildings and launch pads heretofore closed to the public will be opened up for tours, and visitors can witness ongoing rocket launches to the International Space Station.
Elmwood, Wis.
With a population of less than 800, the village of Elmwood has the lucky distinction of being known as the "UFO Capital of Wisconsin," thanks to a string of sightings in the late '70s. Enthusiasm for all things extraterrestrial here went into the creation of the annual UFO Days. Held on the last full weekend of July, the fest features a parade, concert, and craft fair. In fact, the region, a little more than an hour outside the Twin Cities, has a rep for being a hotbed of alien interest: In the late '80s, a Chippewa Falls resident asked President Reagan to build a UFO landing strip here to make it easier for intergalactic visitors.
Grover's Mill, New Jersey
With its proximity to Princeton University, one might think this New Jersey town would be home to enough rocket scientists to know the difference between a Martian invasion and a hoax. But when Orson Welles famously broadcast War of the Worlds on October 30, 1938, and chose Grover's Mill as the landing site for the Martians, locals were so riled up they shot at a water tower that they thought was a spacecraft. Today, a monument stands in Van Next Park, where the Martians supposedly first touched down, commemorating the Halloween trick.
