It was an unusually chilly weekend at Piedmont during Close Encounters of the Piedmont Kind last weekend, but the Spring Valley Resorts and Beaver Springs campgrounds were full.
“There was a steady stream of campers coming into town all day Friday, ” said Chamber of Commerce Director Sara Phillips. “And Main Street was fuller than its ever been for the nighttime parade.”
Phillips was selling commemorative T-shirts at the Clearwater Family Youth Center on Saturday, April 22, where vendors from four counties were selling crafts and UFO memorabilia.
“We pre-sold 150 shirts before this weekend and we’ve sold 200 today,” she said. She had some idea the event might be big when television station KFVS 12 contacted her to be on the Breakfast Show broadcast of Wednesday, April 19.
“I couldn’t believe it when they asked me,” she said. “And then they featured us on Friday night’s Heartland News.”
Tori Parker of Dezztor Designs of Poplar Bluff was at the youth center selling custom shirts and jewelry.
“We have been so busy,” she said. “We love doing these events and this might be our best showing ever.”
Nearby at the AARP building, the Missouri Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) was selling books and giving lectures about the UFO sightings that brought national attention to the area in 1973.
MUFON Director Debbie Ziegelmeyer gave the first lecture to a room filled to standing-only capacity. She introduced MUFON and presented the scientific equipment used in their UFO investigations.
Assistant Director Margie Kay lectured on her efforts to archive historic UFO encounters. More than a dozen people came forward after she spoke to be video interviewed for her documentary about UFO experiences.
Chief investigator Mel Van Vickle detailed more than 100 cases investigated by MUFON in 2022 with videos that had everyone’s attention.
UFO enthusiast Rick Fisher asked questions of the lecturers. He came from Cape Girardeau but some members of his group came from as far away as Dallas, Texas.
“I’ve been following this UFO stuff for a while,” he said. “I came into town to learn about the 1973 sightings.”
Other UFO activities were also happening all over town. The Wayne County Historical Society had displays of historic newspapers of the 1973 sightings. Diamond Jim’s Pub had an alien costume contest and Spring Valley Resort hosted Alien Invasion Paintball.
The Elm Street Hotel featured an alien art contest and alien-inspired pottery by Dave Porter. The hotel also featured appearances by radio broadcaster Denny Hovis who covered the 1973 incident and Mark Rutledge, son of Dr. Harley Rutledge who investigated the sightings for his book “Project Identification, the First Scientific Field Study of UFO Phenomena.”
“Events and excitement are our business and this day has been exciting,” said Elm Street Hotel co-owner Ryan Rainwater, after stepping out of the packed hotel lobby for a break in the fresh air.
“There are a lot of good things happening in Piedmont right now,” said his business partner and brother Josh Rainwater. “The whole community has really gotten behind this thing.”
“It’s a one-of-a-kind event,” added Ryan Rainwater, “but it will be back next year.”
Phillips agrees with him.
“It’s here to stay,” she said. “And if the bill passes we have to do it and do it bigger.”
The bill she referred to is HB 1261, listed on www.house.mo.gov as sponsored by Rep. Chris Dinkins. It proposes listing Piedmont as the UFO capital of Missouri.