Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

In-ko-pah flying saucer tour

"I’ll show you around when my coffee break’s over”

Coyote: “I just like flying saucers."
Coyote: “I just like flying saucers."

If I were ever going to see a UFO, I figured it would be in the desert. Then, last Tuesday while innocently driving through In-Ko-Pah, near Desert Tower, that rock edifice standing lookout over a moonscape of red boulders, wrecked pickups, and broken dreams, I spied a small fleet of flying saucers parked on the side of the road, as if refueling.

A character not seen since The Treasure of Sierra Madre

U-turn to the frontage road, where, in the middle of nothing and nowhere is what could be the abandoned set of the ‘60s TV show, Lost In Space. I nose around to see a van with the words “Coyote’s Flying Saucer Repair and Rescue,” stenciled on the door. Within the van is the cutest pair of ETs you ever saw, relaxing in the desert sun.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A massive, possibly threatening dog puts me on alert as she wanders over without barking. Turns out the dog is friendly, and I later learn her name is Luna. While I clicked a snapshot of the van, a voice booms out, “Take all the photos you want. You can sit in the big one [the biggest of the flying saucers] if you like. I’ll show you around when my coffee break’s over.”

Within the van is the cutest pair of ETs you ever saw.

Driving up in a cart that was used to issue parking tickets in its past incarnation is a bearded, joyful mountain, and a missed opportunity for Hollywood to reveal a character not seen since The Treasure of Sierra Madre. This is Coyote. Inviting me into one of the five or six trailers scattered over his 16 acres he begins my instruction into his world of U.F.O.s. When I ask if he’s pulling my leg, he grabs hold of my foot and yanks on it, laughing heartily, before stating, “I just like flying saucers; it began even before seeing The Jetsons and Lost in Space.”

Everyone is welcome to stop by and visit Coyote on this little landing strip located on In-Ko-Pah Rd in Ocotillo. The tour is free, although donations are not discouraged. For no extra fee, he might even give you a ride in one of his favorite craft, a black jeep with a flying saucer firmly tied to the roof. “When I drive this through the desert at night with my headlights off, and the lights on the saucer turned on people have one of two reactions. They slam on their brakes and flip a U to get a closer look, or I see their dust as they peel out.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Coyote: “I just like flying saucers."
Coyote: “I just like flying saucers."

If I were ever going to see a UFO, I figured it would be in the desert. Then, last Tuesday while innocently driving through In-Ko-Pah, near Desert Tower, that rock edifice standing lookout over a moonscape of red boulders, wrecked pickups, and broken dreams, I spied a small fleet of flying saucers parked on the side of the road, as if refueling.

A character not seen since The Treasure of Sierra Madre

U-turn to the frontage road, where, in the middle of nothing and nowhere is what could be the abandoned set of the ‘60s TV show, Lost In Space. I nose around to see a van with the words “Coyote’s Flying Saucer Repair and Rescue,” stenciled on the door. Within the van is the cutest pair of ETs you ever saw, relaxing in the desert sun.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A massive, possibly threatening dog puts me on alert as she wanders over without barking. Turns out the dog is friendly, and I later learn her name is Luna. While I clicked a snapshot of the van, a voice booms out, “Take all the photos you want. You can sit in the big one [the biggest of the flying saucers] if you like. I’ll show you around when my coffee break’s over.”

Within the van is the cutest pair of ETs you ever saw.

Driving up in a cart that was used to issue parking tickets in its past incarnation is a bearded, joyful mountain, and a missed opportunity for Hollywood to reveal a character not seen since The Treasure of Sierra Madre. This is Coyote. Inviting me into one of the five or six trailers scattered over his 16 acres he begins my instruction into his world of U.F.O.s. When I ask if he’s pulling my leg, he grabs hold of my foot and yanks on it, laughing heartily, before stating, “I just like flying saucers; it began even before seeing The Jetsons and Lost in Space.”

Everyone is welcome to stop by and visit Coyote on this little landing strip located on In-Ko-Pah Rd in Ocotillo. The tour is free, although donations are not discouraged. For no extra fee, he might even give you a ride in one of his favorite craft, a black jeep with a flying saucer firmly tied to the roof. “When I drive this through the desert at night with my headlights off, and the lights on the saucer turned on people have one of two reactions. They slam on their brakes and flip a U to get a closer look, or I see their dust as they peel out.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bait and Switch at San Diego Symphony

Concentric contemporary dims Dvorak
Next Article

Spa-Like Facial Treatment From Home - This Red Light Therapy Mask Makes It Possible

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader