BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- West Virginia prides itself as a land of majestic mountains, sparkling streams, and coal to feed hungry power plants. Now add another chapter about more documented UFO activity than any other place in America.

For proof, author-researcher Frank Feschino points to his exhaustive study that revealed three separate alien aircraft crash-landed a combined 10 times on the historic night of September 12, 1952. This is the benchmark of the UFO phenomena, when the "Flatwoods Monster" was born.

On a steep hillside, a bevy of youngsters drawn away from a game of sandlot football, along with some adults, were shaken out of their shoes by the spectacle of a 12-foot, metallic object that emanated a pungent odor of sulfur and made sounds that reminded one witness of bacon sizzling in a fry pan.

Feschino has two books published on the Flatwoods incident, and a third is a work in progress to be titled "The Flatwoods Monster From Myth to Reality."