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The UFO Watchtower: One of Colorado’s most unusual places

updated February 4, 2021

On an arid plot in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, a half-dozen or so neon green aliens point to a UFO Watchtower that sits off the road and along the western edge of Great Sand Dunes National Park. These aliens are of the cardboard kind, but some San Luis Valley residents say real extraterrestrials are lurking here too. 

Much has been written about Judy Messoline and her steel perch that draws in both road-trippers and UFO-seekers from around the world.

Messoline built the curious dome structure and the 365-degree viewing platform in 2000 after struggling to raise cattle on the gravelly farmland. The terrain surrounding the Watchtower is flat, unobstructed, and surrounded by national forests and mountains far off in the distance.

There’s little light pollution here—Great Sand Dunes itself is an International Dark Sky Park—making it a perfect spot for stargazing, watching meteor showers, and scanning for the “mystery lights” locals report hovering over Mount Blanca.

Hundreds of strange sightings are recorded in a thick binder stuffed with personal notes and photographs. In one of them, a bright blue geometric orb hovers against a hazy mid-day sky. It’s difficult to know the size of this object as there’s nothing around it to provide a sense of scale, but its surface appears shiny, and the flat sections of its sides resemble the topography of a soccer ball. 

A few years after opening, psychics began visiting the property and reported the existence of two vortexes, or portals to a parallel universe, on the property. What started as a simple rock garden to outline the vortexes is now filled with mounds of trinkets left behind by thousands of visitors. Clusters of ordinary, everyday objects—sunglasses, sneakers, hats, and pens, lots and lots of pens—bake in the sun on the east side of the Watchtower.

In a 2013 interview with VICE, which has over three million views on YouTube, Messoline says that the geothermal water running underneath the San Luis Valley might be a factor in all the strange activity. Others attribute the sightings to the vastness of the land or the spirituality here.

Whatever the source, The UFO Watchtower has evolved into more than a strange roadside attraction. Apart from being one of Colorado’s most unique destinations, it’s become a place for travelers to share stories in a place where they won’t be judged. Judy relays a witness account from a farm owner in San Luis, 60 miles to the southeast. "They saw a ship land on their farm. A bright light came out of the top and so did the aliens. There were tall whites and short grays. They stayed in the house and watched out the windows. Really scared them."

Photographs and text by Elaine Skylar Neal / Travels and Curiosities

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