Kentucky’s Most Eccentric Destinations Await Those Who Embrace the Strange and Unusual

Kentucky has its fair share of unique points of interest around the state, some of those being more quirky than others (my favorite kind). The bluegrass is no stranger when it comes to the paranormal, with stories of strange encounters tracing back through the generations. Put those two factors together and it is of little wonder why there are many eclectic and sometimes spooky destinations worth galivanting to across the commonwealth.

International Paranormal Museum, Somerset

Located at 107 North Main Street in Somerset is where you'll find the International Museum of the paranormal. Business hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 5 pm EST. Ticket prices are incredibly reasonable at $4 for adults and $3 for children and seniors.

The International Paranormal Museum opened its doors on October 14th, 2017, and since then has welcomed visitors from all 50 fifty states and around three dozen countries. Museum owner and curator, Kyle Kadel, proudly shares that this summer the museum had its twenty-thousandth guest to have stopped by.

Kyle also shared that their next big event is going to take place on October 5th, the second annual Cumberland Con. 2024 marks the second year of this convention and covers a range of spooky. This event takes place in the Somerset High School Gymnasium.

"It’s a half paranormal/high strangeness, half comic convention, with vendors, celebrities, speakers, food trucks, cosplay, the works. We have our socials for Cumberland Con where all the announcements pop up first."

My question for the museum owner/curator was, why Somerset? A seemingly small unassuming rural town with a population of less than 13,000 according to the 2022 census. The answer shocked me and made me want to plan a road trip ASAP.

"First, it’s where I (Kyle Kadel, owner, and curator) live, and have done a lot of my research into the strange, so it’s the perfect choice for me. I grew up watching stuff like Unsolved Mysteries and The X-Files, so I’ve always been into the weird.

In high school, I lead a team of friends (mostly out of boredom at first) into cemeteries and abandoned buildings, mostly trying to disprove the idea of ghosts and hauntings In the beginning. But weird stuff kept happening, and a couple of years in, during a ghost hunt, I saw a UFO, which just eventually snowballed into opening the museum haha. Beyond that, we think of Pulaski County as the “High Strangeness Capital of Kentucky”.

We have an abnormally high amount of paranormal activity and other strange phenomena, and there are several contributing theories as to why. We are situated on the 37th parallel (known as the alien superhighway), we are the center of what NASA deemed “The Kentucky Anomaly”, where gravity is heavier here than anywhere in the world, we are on top of one of the largest quartz deposits in the world (which the piezoelectric effect can have serious effects on humans).

This area has one of the largest anomalous geomagnetic spikes in the country, up there with Sedona and Cassadaga. We are in the historically magical Daniel Boone National Forest (birthplace of modern Wicca, and the location of The Abyss according to Native American history).

We have more reported hauntings and monster/Cryptid sightings per capita than most of the country, we also have an unusually high number of violent crimes, missing people, and mental health concerns (see the quartz deposit ). All of this and more combine into the perfect melting pot of paranormal phenomena and High Strangeness, and the museum is here in the center of it all!"

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Kyle is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to this region of the Bluegrass, and what I discovered about Somerset flabbergasted me. This place is less than a two-hour drive from where I live, why had I never heard of any of this, and more importantly, why have I never visited?

The International Paranormal Museum has been featured on shows such as The Hellier Documentaries (Amazon Prime) and Haunted Discoveries featuring previous members of the Ghost Hunters team.  Kyle Kadel went on to inform of their Penny Royal Podcast where talks of the paranormal and other topics are covered. Read what Kyle Kadel is working on next in conjunction with local tourism agencies.

"We are currently working with local tourism on a high strangeness driving tour around the county, that will highlight several of our most famous stories and locations; including the underground tunnels beneath the city, a giant flying stingray sighting in Burnside, the spirits of the historical building the museum is in (yes its haunted beside us!) some of our most haunted cemeteries, the ghosts of the Shine House, and the sightings at the Mill Springs Civil War Battlefield. I think 14 stories in all. The driving tour will be a self-guided App where you can hear the stories and collect badges of the locations, and will be released the weekend of Cumberland Con."

A big thank you to Kyle Kadel for answering all my interview questions! Plan your visit to Somerset to the International Paranormal Museum, and keep your eye on the sky for any unexpected extraterrestrial travelers.

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Alien Invasion Day, Hopkinsville

Many paranormal and UFO aficionados know of the famous Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter that took place nearly 70 years ago this coming August. The story has it, that on a muggy late summer evening near Kelly, Kentucky a family farm experienced some unwelcome guests. The Sutton farm was absent of many amenities such as running water and a telephone and was pretty close being located squarely in the middle of nowhere. Absent of many things aside from extraterrestrial visitors.

Hopkinsville is hosting an Alien Invasion Day on the 21st of August this year, the exact day that 69 years ago some little green men came wandering upon the Suttons farm. The event will lift off at 4 pm and will take its event-goers on an intergalactic journey until 11 pm that evening. This event has been an annual tradition for many years, welcoming UFO enthusiast from around the world to come to partake in the local mystery and to regale their thoughts and stories of UFO encounters.

There are still living family members in the area who actively participate in the events of Alien Invasion Day and keep the story alive for future generations. Geraldine Sutton Stith has a published book you can find on Amazon that covers the lasting legacy of the 1955 phenomenon. A fascinating fact is that the Kelly-Hopkins event directly inspired the 1982 Steven Spielberg hit film, E.T.

READ MORE: 10 Disgusting Facts About Kentucky's Most Misunderstood Bird

The Great American Dollhouse Museum, Danville

The museum has over 200 dollhouses, building miniatures, and room boxes on display in Danville. The Great American Dollhouse Museum got its start back in 2006 and has been sharing the joy and history of many dollhouses and miniature scenes. The museum is a welcoming host every year to school field trips and other civic group outings. The museum has been featured on A&E: Shipping Wars, KET, and made Rand McNally's Best of The Road attractions in 2012.