Flying Saucer in Town Named Mars
Mars, Pennsylvania
This little burg was named after the "Star of Mars" (according to a plaque in front of the local historical society) and founded in 1875.
When we first saw the Flying Saucer in the early 1990s, it was downtown and painted battleship gray. At the time we heard there had been local UFO sightings and videotapings, along with circular burn marks out in fields. Was the Chamber of Commerce playing tricks to make the Saucer more newsworthy?
Businesses were proudly labeled Mars National Bank, Mars Gourmet, Mars Animal Depot, Planet Pizza, Mars Travel, Chuck Kennedy's Cars from Mars. We were intrigued by the bi-lingual sign at Mars Hardware -- in both English and Martian Tool language. The town's sport teams are named the Planets.
In 2007 we received a tip that the Saucer was gone, and on a special night mission we found it in a park beyond the railroad tracks, glinting in our headlights. It turns out it's relocated every September for the town's annual Apple Festival. The town librarian told us that, "they move it around all the time, but they'll never get rid of it."
It would be difficult to get rid of; it weighs a ton.