King of the motel setting the pace in the space race

Off all the entrepreneurs - from Amazon chief Jeff Bezos to Ricahrd Branson - trying to make money in space, motel king Robert T. bigelow is the only one to have got anything into orbit.

In 1947, Robert T Bigelow's grandparents were driving through the desert near Las Vegas when a glowing red ball hurtled towards their car before making a sharp turn and vanishing.

It started a lifelong obsession for Bigelow, now 63. He has ploughed millions from a fortune made in hotels into UFO research, talking to hundreds of people who claim to have seen UFOs and sending vets to inspect mutilated cows.

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