09/22/2026
https://www.facebook.com/100064369826789/posts/1496581885830791/?mibextid=CDWPTG
Did you know one of San Bernardino County’s most unique landmarks has a history that includes a hidden home, a suspected spy and UFO encounters? 👽
Giant Rock near Landers stands approximately seven stories high and covers almost 6,000 square feet. For thousands of years, it served as a landmark and gathering place where Native American tribes from across the desert came together to celebrate the changing seasons.
The rock stood untouched for many years until the 1930s when Frank Critzer claimed squatter’s rights and used dynamite to carve a small home beneath it. He also built roads, an airplane landing strip and attached a radio antenna to the top of Giant Rock.
During World War II, Critzer was suspected of being a German spy. U.S. officials investigated him in 1938 but never found anything illegal.
Then on July 24, 1942, three sheriff’s deputies came to question Critzer. Accounts of what happened next vary. Some reports claim that Critzer detonated his own explosives in a standoff while others believe a deputy’s tear gas canister accidentally ignited the blast. The resulting explosion killed Critzer.Â
Three years later, his friend George Van Tassel requested a homestead on the property. He opened the airfield and built a small café.
In 1953, Van Tassel claimed he encountered extraterrestrials at Giant Rock. He said an alien woke him and took him aboard a spacecraft. He later wrote several books about his experiences and held an annual UFO convention at Giant Rock that attracted 11,000 attendees.
