Pensacola Beach, Florida: Futuro - UFO House

There is no longer a ramp, and red tape is across all of the deck. I don't know if it's still occupied by any humans, but I did spot a couple of aliens peering out of the windows.

Have to go down the alley to get the best view. Also, there's an alien as you approach.

The Futuro in Pensacola is getting to look a little run down when I was there today...

The UFO House looks great. There was a boat parked out front, which would indicate some sort of occupancy, but we didn't see anyone. No aliens in the windows, either, as far as we could tell.

It's interesting to see one again! These small, fiberglass houses were made by a Finnish company called Oy Polykem ab in the early '70s. It was called the "Futuro II" and had a single bedroom, bathroom, U-shaped kitchen area, separate dining area, a curved 23-ft. couch and a central fireplace that doubled as a grill.

They were made in sections that could be delivered by truck and assembled on-site, or, for the really wealthy, they could be completely assembled at the factory and flown in by helicopter. They had four metal pads at the end of V-shaped legs that were meant to be bolted to concrete footings, and all utilities ran through a column, called a "utility pod," immediately below the house.

I first heard about them when the Arrow shirt and collar company ran a caption contest for a poster to promote their products. I didn't win, but really wanted one of those houses.

I pestered my mother so much that it almost happened! Someone put one up in the Charlevoix, Michigan area and it was for sale. We made the trip up to see it. I still have the old Super-8 movie film that I shot of that trip! The one we saw was yellowish-orange, and looked very much at home nestled in the deep woods. I was impressed by the unique entry way; a single pull-down door that you opened with a key, like a car door. It was counter-weighted, so that it didn't take much effort to pull it down. Locked, the house was virtually burglar proof! There were no curtains on any of the windows. When I asked if the owners ever felt vulnerable to peeping Toms, they said, "Well, we're out in the woods, our nearest neighbor is about 5 miles away and they'd have to be about 20 feet tall to peek in!"