UFOs in the daily Press:

E.T. Where Are You?

By George Jones
The Reporter

Saturday, as I drove toward Fyffe to check out the UFO Day happenings, I had the distinct feeling I was experiencing what "The Twilight Zone"'s opening narration said of those who watched "You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone."

Riding up Alabama 75 North on a regular day can seem as though you have entered through a door of "another dimension... of both shadow and substance."

Portions of Highway 75 North might be considered a dimension filled with the "shadow and substance" of collapsing farm buildings, derelict and abandoned cars and empty houses from a bygone era creating the feel of another dimension.

As I cruised along in my red Ford Ranger, with the morning sun shining down from a slightly hazy powder-blue sky, I thought of the hot-air balloon ride I missed earlier that morning.

The balloon took off at 6 a.m. and I honestly couldn't motivate myself to give up my one morning to sleep late.

Anyway, looking towards the heavens, I allowed myself to imagine what vistas I might have seen riding several hundred feet above good ol' Alabama terra firma.

Then again, in a more pragmatic mental moment, I was thankful I hadn't made the trip as an ever-increasing [with age] fatalism permeated my thoughts.

A fatalism caused me to consider the possibility the colorful, oversized, hot air bag might have collapsed, plummeting me, and it, to an inglorious conclusion upon some cornfield below.

Passing through Geraldine and Lakeview, I finally entered the outskirts of the small rural farming community of Fyffe, where during two days, Feb. 11-12, 1989, Fyffe became a center of UFO attention. At that time, about 50 of the fewer than 1,000 residents reported seeing a UFO.

According to published reports at the time, police Chief Junior Garmany said, "It was big, wide and appeared to be a wide triangular shape. We kept waiting to hear the sound. We kept looking at each other and saying where's the sound?' We never heard anything what I saw the first time was like nothing I ever saw before. It was not a helicopter, it was not a plane. Not a sound."

Another witness reported the UFO as looking like a "banana" flying at an angle.

So for a while Fyffe, was the center of the UFO universe, with media coming from around the world to study the situation. However, after their brief brush with fame, the community quietly returned to just another dot on a map of DeKalb County in northeast Alabama.

Last year, city leaders decided to capitalize on the continuing phenomenon with the inception of Fyffe UFO Days. The meaning was changed to "Unforgettable Family Outing."

Approaching the heart of downtown Fyffe, I fully expected to see the town gaily festooned with costumed aliens and flying saucers parked everywhere.

Imagine my surprise when all I found was an empty main street no colorful banners, and no inhabitants, earthly or otherwise.

As I continued to look around, unable to find a human being, the thought came to me is it possible, have aliens landed and abducted everybody in town?

Just about the time I was ready to call Homeland Security I saw movement. I spotted what appeared to be an earthling sweeping the driveway near a school.

I cautiously approached him and asked if he knew where the UFO festivities where. He smiled, and told me as he pointed "Over there."

I'm not certain if the organizers of UFO Days didn't want the aliens to know where they were gathering, but I might suggest a few signs pointing the way would be helpful for earthlings coming into Fyffe.

Well, I have run out of "space" so, "G.J. go home!"