Crestone, Colorado

Strange visitors in Colorado's San Luis Valley

Of the West's many spiritual places, Crestone, in Colorado's south-central San Luis Valley, remains one of the most intriguing. A mix of New Age, Buddhist and cowboy West cultures enlivens this small town at the western edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Sprinkle in a little "Bicycle Consciousness" and the silence of the local Carmelite monastery for good measure, and Crestone becomes a true portal for cosmic energy. Its many interesting happenings are reported in the Crestone Eagle.

An article in the March issue reminds us that the March 21 equinox, according to Mayan prophecies, marks the end of an age of darkness or K'altun, and ushers in the Izta age, or "Age of Knowledge." There's no reason to doubt Crestone's sages, as the area has a unique propensity for "enlightened" phenomenon. In the December issue of the Eagle, an article written by Christopher O'Brien contained a riveting timeline of "unexplained events" reported by valley residents last October and November. Some highlights:

According to several "reliable" rumors, an entire valley-town fire department on training exercise witnessed "30 UFOs" flying overhead. Nobody present is talking.
Four white lights and one red light were seen over Alamosa by multiple witnesses. The white lights appeared to be "chasing" the red light. One report described the white lights "in a dogfight" with the red.
A county sheriff spotted a triangle-shaped craft and two helicopters one afternoon. The three craft seemed "to vanish into thin air."
Several valley families report to the local sheriff a 200-yard-long saucer hovering near Antonito, with several helicopters circling nearby.

Last June, O'Brien wrote a similar piece for the Eagle, chronicling several unusual events, including "Bigfoot" sightings, rumors of which have floated around the valley since the 1800s. Military overflights? Overactive imaginations? "Pulsed microwave behavior-manipulation experiments?" We're not quite sure, but we'll soon visit to see for ourselves. If you don't hear back from us, we're either holed up at Crestone's Road Kill Cafe or orbiting that faint star in Orion's belt.
David Iler
April 24, 1995

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