Lake Havasu City is Out of This World
The clear skies and low humidity of western Arizona, which make the region a popular vacation destination, offer something even more enticing: a window into the unknown.
Tourists come for recreation; researchers come to study the unknown
Lake Havasu City, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, is in the middle of an area known for mysterious carvings left by ancient residents, ghost sightings, and, possibly, visitors from out of this world.
The Lake Havasu Museum of History ( havasumuseum.com ), located in the city, was founded so that present and future generations can understand how the Lake Havasu City area was created, and recognize the need to preserve its historical heritage. Visitors learn that Lake Havasu’s history didn’t just start when Parker Dam created the lake in the 1930s, but thousands of years before.
Members of the Mohave and Quechan tribes are thought to be responsible for creating the Blythe Intaglios: immense etchings in the desert near the Colorado River close to Lake Havasu. These geoglyphs, approximately 200 along the Colorado river, depict humans and animals in forms so large they were only rediscovered with the advent of air travel. The smallest figure is 95 feet long, and the largest is over 170 feet. The figures may have been carved as recently as the year 1000 AD, but may be as old as 8000 BC. According to a late 19th century study, the local Indians believed haunted men could escape spirits by running between them.
Speaking of haunted, one local man has studied paranormal activity on the city’s famed London Bridge for almost a decade. Professional photographer and paranormal investigator Gary Asbury has resurrected his popular London Bridge Historical Ghost Tours.
For years, amateur photos and videos of the bridge have shown strange orbs of light, where none existed to the naked eye. Asbury has a file of thousands of these, unexplainable, all emanating from what his 2,000 hours of study leads him to believe is the most haunted bridge in the world.
The ground doesn’t hold the only secrets – the sparsely populated areas that surround the city are a hotbed for curious sky watchers as well. The clear air and low light pollution in the Arizona desert means spectacular views of the nighttime heavens and, for some, glimpses of objects which have yet to be explained.
The Arizona chapter of the Mutual UFO Network ( mufonarizona.tripod.com ) investigated 184 sightings from August 2010 through August 2011, of which 26 were in Mohave County, home of Lake Havasu City. Even though fewer eyes are cast skyward there than in more populous counties like Maricopa, the number of sightings are roughly the same. Fourteen of the 26 reported incidents remain truly unidentified, leaving much still to be discovered in the Lake Havasu City region.
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About Lake Havasu City
Lake Havasu City, three hours driving time from Phoenix, 2-1/4 hours south of Las Vegas and four to five from the Los Angeles region, attracts 775,000 visitors a year thanks to its dry, desert weather, more than 300 sunny days a year, a range of restaurants and lodging, and a boatload of special events.
For more information on Lake Havasu City, Arizona’s only waterfront resort destination, including a 2014-15 calendar of events, visit golakehavasu.com or call 928-453-3444. Also find Lake Havasu City online at facebook.com/lakehavasucityarizona and twitter.com/golakehavasu . Photos of dozens of images of local recreational activities, restaurants, lodging and scenery are available upon request.
Contact:
Jamie Gribbon/Jeff Blumenfeld
Blumenfeld and Assoc. PR
203 655 1600, jeff@blumenfeldpr.com
Michelle Gardia Lake Havasu City CVB 928-453-3444
