Alien Invasion

For the second year in a row, Wayde Gilliam has constructed a UFO crash landing in the front yard of his Carlsbad home.

Visitors from as far as Los Angeles came to see the spectacle. Last year the UFO sighting drew more than 1,000 visitors and this year Gilliam is expecting many more.

The idea was thought up by Gilliam and his friend, Andy Konopacki, after a number of years of attempting to provide a different, more effects-oriented experience for Halloween. During those years, Gilliam said he's constructed different props, ranging from a talking head in a crystal ball to a magic mirror that allowed visitors to interact with a computer animated puppet.

The UFO project takes about a week to design the spacecraft and then another couple weeks to construct it. Gillian and Konopacki also use a number of lighting, fog and audio special effects to enhance the experience.

Gilliam and Konopacki say that Halloween is the holiday they most look forward to.

"Having my kids, family and other friends be able to get in on the action makes the event and preparation all the more exciting," said Gilliam.

The most popular element is the interaction between visitors and members of the cast (usually family and friends)--especially with the actual aliens. So who's human and who's alien? You'll just have to go to find out.