(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121221-bugarach-blog-03.photoblog600.jpg)Patrick Aventurier / Getty ImagesCamera crews from all over the world continue to work Friday beyond 11:11 a.m., the time the Mayan apocalypse was supposed to occur in Bugarach village, France.By Emma O'Shaughnessy, NBC NewsBUGARACH, France — The peacefulness of the Sals River Valley at the foothills of the Pyrenees in France belies its violent, enigmatic history. Once the place of ancient marauding Visigoths, its small villages were also home to the mystical Cathars and to the protectors of the cloth, the Knights Templar – both eliminated by inquisitions and despotic rulers.
Follow @NBCNewsWorld (https://twitter.com/NBCNewsWorld)Roughly two years ago, the peace of this land was broken once again by strange rumors surfacing online about Bugarach Mountain, a rocky beacon presiding over the landscape.
According to some reports, the peak of the mountain conceals an alien spaceship. Other sources say it is part of an alien space-time portal. The origins of the UFO stories have been difficult to trace, but have generated a response bordering on hysteria. Under normal circumstances, probably, such bizarre claims would have slunk away unnoticed or been relegated to the crazy bin. But, as they say, timing is everything.
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