EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The city of Edinburg officially launched its annual UFO Festival and it is providing people with family fun, food, games, and stories of local UFO sightings.

Magdiel Castle, the assistant director of cultural arts for the city of Edinburg, said there is something for everyone.

“We like to say if you like to have fun, go to the festival. Get your free tinfoil hat and walk around. If you’re a believer or want to learn more, go to the conference,” he said.

Castle said the festival is ranked number three in the U.S. and in the world.

“We believe it’s because of the speakers. I don’t know what the other festivals are doing, but whatever we’re doing, we’re doing it right,” he said.

The speakers at the festival are UFO experts that have been featured on popular tv shows.

Castle said the festival kicks off with a tour of an undisclosed and private location where a local expert will share an account of a UFO incident.

Noe Torres, a local author and UFO researcher with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), has been part of the festival since the first year and will tell the story of the UFO incident that inspired the festival.

“It happened in 1966, that eight construction workers here, experienced what they believe was an attack from a mysterious flying object that was hovering above them,” said Torres.

The incident occurred in north Edinburg in what was once a caliche pit.

“Shot a beam of something at them. They narrowly escaped with their lives and all of their compound, which included their pickup trucks, the RV that they were spending the nights out here in, their heavy construction machinery were completely incinerated,” he explained.

The site still has pieces of twisted-rusted metal and charred rocks that Torres said are evidence of the incident.

“Military officials from the airport showed up several days later to the sheriff’s department and they took all the official records of what had happened that evening,” said Torres.

Torres said reports of UFO sightings happen across the valley, even up until now and he will be sharing more about local sightings at the festival and conference.

The opening night tour of the UFO incident in Edinburg was a sold-out event and Castle recommends that people get ready for the opportunity to attend next year.

For more information on the Edinburg UFO Festival, you can visit their website.