July 8

The 8th is a date that the town fathers of Roswell[i], New Mexico will celebrate for a very long time. On that day in 1947 reports were broadcast around the nation that a UFO had crash-landed in their little town, thus giving them a firm grip on a sustainable tourist industry and spawning who knows how many t-shirt companies and websites. If you think there is no government cover-up of this alien encounter just try finding Roswell’s Area 51 using Google Earth. You could also just pay a visit to McMinnville, Oregon’s yearly UFO Festival.

[i] Roswell is also home to the world’s largest mozzarella cheese factory