A rather sizeable monument that commemorates a historic UFO event is giving a small Massachusetts town quite the headache.
The massive concrete marker, which stands six feet tall and weighs 5,000 pounds, honors a 1969 incident in the town of Sheffield in which over 40 people reported seeing a UFO.
Although it was backed by some members of the community as well as witnesses to the event, it would seem that not everyone is thrilled with the unorthodox addition to the town.
Following its initial installation in 2015 near a replica of a historic covered bridge, town officials quickly realized that it had been placed on public land and, therefore, had to be moved.
Some chagrined residents suspect that this oddly-timed discovery was made because a faction of townspeople found the monument to be an eyesore next to the picturesque bridge.
Nonetheless, the group behind the monument acquiesced to the town's wishes and moved the piece 30 feet away to what was believed, at the time, to be private land.
That seemed to settle the matter and there were even lampposts and benches added to the area in recent years, but now the monument is once again at the center of controversy in Sheffield.
Yet another land survey of the location has revealed that the marker is still on town land and now officials want it to be moved yet again.
This is particularly puzzling to Thom Reed, who was one of the original witnesses to the UFO and helped make the monument a reality in 2015.
According to him, the same town administrator who issued the order to move the monument was the one who chose its second location after this problem originally arose in 2015.
Meanwhile, making the entire affair all the more convoluted, the town has no idea who legally owns the monument and, therefore, they don't know who to tell to move it.
As such, they simply plan to move the mighty marker in May unless someone steps forward to claim the monument and facilitate its relocation.
However, that may not necessary if Reed has his way as he has promised legal action to prevent the monument from being moved.
Whether this turns into a full blown court battle remains to be seen, but the residents unhappy about the weird marker are likely wishing they'd endured the embarrassment, since now more people than ever have heard about the Sheffield UFO monument thanks to all the publicity surrounding the dispute.
Source: Berkshire Eagle