DENVER (KDVR) The UFO Watchtower in Alamosa attracts thousands of people worldwide every year, but 25 years ago, it was just a plot of land.

Since its opening, the watchtower said there have been over 300 sightings in the area alone. As a pit stop near the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, the watchtower gets thousands of visitors every year from all over the world.

But before it became a Colorado attraction, it was nothing more than an idea.

Over 25 years ago, Judy Messoline bought a plot of land in Alamosa and was a waiter at a local café. Her son, Larry Messoline, said nearby farmers would come in the morning for breakfast and coffee and talk about the lights in the sky at night.

One day, Larry said Judy was waiting tables when she jokingly said, “I just need to open a place where people can go look for those UFOs,” and went back to work. Two weeks later, a farmer brought up the idea again and said it would be good for the local economy.

So, she opened the UFO Watchtower.

Judy had a plot of land, and Larry said Judy figured that if anything, it would be another building on the property. Judy opened the watchtower during Memorial Day weekend in 2000. Little did she know at the time, it would turn into a renowned roadside attraction.

Larry said Judy put the watchtower where she said it, “just felt right.” Come to find out, psychics who have visited the watchtower said the same thing: There were two vortexes, described as a parallel universe filled with positive energy, where the watchtower was placed.

People started leaving little trinkets of their own energy by the watchtower, creating a garden of people’s belongings.

Larry said that when he walks through the area where the energy is said to be the strongest, the hairs on his arm stand up. He said other visitors described it as a feeling in their mouth, a tingle in their head or a weight on their shoulders.

The watchtower said the psychics described the vortex with two beings protecting the entrance, who are also there to help the people on the watchtower. Larry said one lady claimed she was cured of cancer because she went out in the garden.

Now, on Memorial Day weekend, the UFO Watchtower is turning 25 years old.