Qualla: UFO Welcome Center

UFO Welcome Center: Introduction

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

"It's regulation for the aliens -- not for Bowman." That was Jody Pendarvis's response when local inspectors questioned the structural integrity of the 46-foot flying saucer he built in his backyard in Bowman, South Carolina. The town has a population of roughly 900 people. Pendarvis believed he was an ambassador to extraterrestrial visitors and that they deserved a proper place to rest after a long interstellar journey. So starting in 1994, using wood, fiberglass, plastic, and whatever salvage materials came to hand, he constructed a saucer-shaped structure mounted on four motorized columns, equipped with a powered entry ramp, and furnished it with a bed, satellite television, air conditioning, a toilet, and a shower. It was, by any measure, one of the strangest buildings in South Carolina. For three decades, it was also one of the most beloved.

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UFO Welcome Center: Built from Scraps, Held by Faith

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Pendarvis was not an engineer, an architect, or a wealthy eccentric. He was a man with a vision and access to a junkyard's worth of materials. The main saucer measured 46 feet across, its hull cobbled together from plywood, fiberglass sheets, and plastic panels. Inside, visitors ...

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UFO Welcome Center: Stephen Colbert Came Calling

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

For its first few years, the UFO Welcome Center was a local curiosity, charging a dollar for admission. Word spread. In 2001, The Daily Show dispatched Stephen Colbert to Bowman for a segment that introduced the saucer to a national audience. Colbert's visit was played for laughs...

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UFO Welcome Center: The Fire

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On the morning of May 9, 2024, the UFO Welcome Center burned to the ground. The fire broke out around 9 a.m., and the combination of wood, fiberglass, and plastic that had given the saucer its shape also made it burn fast and hot. The cause was never officially determined. Pendar...

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UFO Welcome Center: Ambassador to the Universe

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

What made the UFO Welcome Center remarkable was not its construction -- which was, by any objective standard, haphazard -- but the absolute sincerity of its creator. Pendarvis never treated the project as a joke or a stunt. He genuinely believed that extraterrestrial visitors mig...

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