There has been a UFO sighting in Poplar Bluff. Or, rather there is a UFO display along County Road 452. The creator of the display is Belinda Bailey, a ceramic artist who has constructed elaborate Halloween displays outside Poplar Bluff for the last six years.
“Last year we had a ‘Stranger Things’ theme,” Bailey said during a phone interview. “And one year we had ‘A Wizard of Oz’ theme and also ‘E.T.’”
This year, her alien invasion theme is already attracting attention and receiving the spotlight from passersby and others. Bailey said when she went outside to water her plants, she noticed a man in camouflage with a camera and tripod.
“He asked permission to take photos and was there for a good amount of time taking photos,” she laughed.
Bailey said this year’s inspiration for the Halloween display was a past trip to Roswell, New Mexico.
“We went to New Mexico last year and that is where the idea came from,” she explained.
For Bailey, what started as a simple display grew into something more significant for her.
“When I was a kid, I remember that everything was all decorated. Today, that seems like a lost art,” she said. “I just like creating things and I like to see something in my mind to see if I can recreate it with ceramics.”
Bailey said she sculpted the four alien heads along with their hands out of clay.
“I made a mold and then recreated the other aliens,” she said. “I have done that before.”
She freely admits this year’s display was a little extra and every year presents a new challenge which is the reason she begins crafting her theme and decorations about six months in advance.
“I use Facebook to find what I need,” Bailey explained.
She also said most of her decorations are repurposed from old things.
“I recycle every year and everything I use is mostly from Goodwill,” she said. “The house (in the display) is an old parade prop and the UFO spaceship is two 10-foot satellites that are glued together. We went to get one from Bernie and Qulin. From there I power-stripped them and painted them both.”
Even the bubble on the spaceship is re-used.
“The bubble is an old bubble that my mother had,” she said. “And the ladder is just an old piece of furniture.”
Bailey readily admits there’s a lot of work and time involved in setting up and preparing her display, but her motivation is the public’s reaction and how they come to view it every year.
“I like to see people smile and to make people happy,” she said. “It keeps me doing it every year.”