Real or not, no one can deny that UFOs became a part of Pierce County's history in the 1970s. Elmwood has embraced this history with its annual UFO Days celebration.

The quiet town of Elmwood has had a post office in operation since 1885, named after a grove of elm trees near the town site. However, it didn’t rise to national fame until the 1970s when townspeople in the hamlet on the banks of the Eau Galle River began seeing things they just couldn’t explain.

Headlines about Elmwood’s UFO sightings and subsequent plans for an ambitious Chippewa Falls businessman named Joseph Weber dominated headlines of the day, locally and across the country in the 70s and 80s. Members of the community later appeared on talk shows such as “The Geraldo Rivera Show” and others.

Although there have been dozens of alleged sightings over the years, especially during a two-year span in the 70s, none have been more discussed than those of Elmwood Officer George Wheeler.

According to news reports, some believed the town’s rock quarry attracted UFOs. Others thought it might be the government conducting top-secret experiments in the skies over Elmwood. One minister even thought it might be signaling the second coming of Jesus Christ. Still others thought those who claimed to see UFOs were nuts or spending too much time in the taverns.

In 1975, Carole Forster and her three children reported seeing a bright object land in front of their car late one night while they drove up from Forster’s parents’ home. Forster reportedly honked the corn and put the car in reverse as the children screamed and cried. The object, described as a blinking like a star, took off over the trees.

Another witness that night, Roger Weber, told reporters the object “took off straight west over the horizon like a ball of fire.”

In 1976, Wheeler thought a fire may have broken out in the quarry on Tuttle Hill around 11 p.m. April 22. According to an article, after reaching the top of a hill, he got on his radio and exclaimed, “My God, it’s one of those UFOs again.” He described it as a flaming orange object, 250 feet across and two stories high, hovering above the ground. As he was speaking on the radio, suddenly it went dead, Police Chief Gene Helmer told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram shortly after the incident. When a farmer arrived at the quarry, Wheeler appeared dazed; the electrical system in his car was also burned out.

Wheeler said in interviews that he saw people moving around inside the saucer-shaped object before being struck by a blue light. After the incident, his health went downhill and he had nightmares. He died two years later.

After reports of these UFO sightings, of which there were many, became public, Elmwood became a tourist destination for UFO seekers. The town decided to take advantage of their new notoriety and founded UFO Days in 1978.

Even though this publication focuses on events of the 1970s, the epilogue into the next decade is worth noting.

According to the Chicago Tribune, in 1988 businessman Tom Weber unveiled a plan to raise $50 million for a two-square-mile, illuminated UFO landing site near Elmwood. Weber told the Tribune that he needed $25 million to buy the land and build a research station, plus another $25 million to operate the site. 

He told the Tribune “the site would have a giant, two-part panel depicting a friendly meeting between man and alien, Weber said. A third panel would be a landing site, which would be a circle 300 yards in diameter. Buildings housing scientists and radio and computer tracking devices would be placed nearby.”

Weber scoffed at naysayers, and said “I guess you could say something has been tried before, but at what magnitude? I feel it`s unfair to mention us in the same sentence with efforts by groups that wear white robes and chant.”

According to MPR, Weber raised enough money to open an office in Chippewa Falls, get a telephone installed and print some T-shirts. That was it. The landing pad and UFO research station never came to fruition and all that remains are signs in the country pinpointing sites where UFOs have been seen.

Sources used: Pierce County Herald, Pioneer Press, Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, MPR and Chicago Tribune