Do you believe? Our Top 5 Campgrounds for spotting UAPs (UFOs) in Kentucky
One of the more curious provisions in the recent omnibus stimulus bill signed by President Trump at the latter end of 2020 is a Freedom of Information Act request for the Pentagon to release all its past findings regarding UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) - a new (and unstigmatized) name for UFOs.
What fun! While we’re anxiously waiting for those redacted documents, we put together what could turn into a once-in-a-lifetime stargazing experience.
As you may or may not know, our first of fleet is The Mothership. So, you could say we’re into space stuff.
My Old Kentucky Campground - Bloomfield, KY
In 1978, more than 50 people witnessed mysterious lights in the sky. Apparently the lights reacted to traffic, hiding themselves when cars passed and lighting back up when the coast was clear.
Near Bloomfield, an amateur astronomer and local residents reported a long, thin object will a mirror-like surface hovering overhead.
Grab a spot at the Old Kentucky Home Campground to enjoy a history tour by day and UFO watching at night in this sighting hotspot.
Dixieland Campground - The Hopkinsville Incident - Hopkinsville, KY
Dixieland Campground is near a legendary encounter called “The Hopkinsville Incident”.
Part myth and part mystery, the story goes that a family of carnival workers was harassed by a small force of alien creatures. The creatures were described as having eyes wide apart, short, slender, with large ears. The family was terrorized inside their home while the creatures surrounded the house and looked into windows. Not going down without a fight, the men grabbed their shotguns and fired at the beings who ran off into the woods.
This story is a bit creepier than a run-of-the-mill UFO sighting, but it’s also one that is easy to debunk. Whether you believe or not, the are where the incident occurred is a wild and beautiful part of the Commonwealth and deserves further investigation.
To get into the mood for KY travel, we recommend watching the underground documentary hit Hellier streaming on Amazon.
Chimney Rock RV Park
In 1976, three women from Kentucky made the national news claiming that they were abducted, or assaulted, by a strange craft while driving on KY highway 78 towards Hustonville.
The tabloids had a heyday with the ladies, but most people just rolled their eyes. Interestingly, the women were placed under hypnosis and a lie detector tests. Their stories held up. Although, we know now that both hypnosis and lie detectors are flawed methods of separating truth from fiction.
The mystery of what happened to these women has never been solved, but their story has inspired a play and was investigated by military personnel.
A strange tale indeed. What was the object these women saw? What did it do to them? And why?
Solve the mystery over beer and BBQ under a night sky and your cozy camper in the background.
Paintsville Lake Campground - Flatgap, KY
In 2002, outside of Paintsville, KY a train engineer ran into a UFO. That’s right, a freight train made impact with an unidentified flying object. The conductor reports three objects all together that appeared to be searching for something with lights trained on the nearby lake.
As with many vehicle related encounter stories, the electrical system in the train went haywire as it approached one of the objects. This slowed the train down to 30 mph and made it relatively quiet. This is why the conductor believes the object didn’t move in time, because its driver wasn’t paying attention and didn’t expect a quiet train with none of its lights on.
The train clipped the object, which then took off.
After getting the train back to the train yard, the conductor and crew were submitted to a flurry of questions by a strange group of people. The damaged train cars were removed and parked under a tent and the train crew was asked to keep the incident on DL.
Another mystery never fully explained, and one that includes a 100% sober train conductor and a full on accident involving a UAP.
We hope those UFOs learned their lesson and stay away from our campers, but what fun investigating this story. Traveler beware - whenever strangers in suits appreciate your silence, you’re in trouble.
German Bridge Campground - Prestonsburg, KY
The indie doc Hellier helped put the area around Prestonsburg on the map. This is a weird one that combines paranormal research with UFO mythology to create a spooky atmosphere. Admittedly, the people encountered are more intimidating than any threat of cryptids or aliens, but the storytelling draws the watcher into the oddness of the KY backwoods.
Dive into the beauty of the landscape and the strangeness of local culture at the German Bridge Campground. We can’t promise any telepathic simpatico with creatures from other dimensions, but a dark night, roaring campfire and a bit of storytelling make for good memories.