People like Travis S. Taylor

Travis Shane Taylor (born July 24, 1968, in Decatur, Alabama) is an American scientist, engineer, science fiction author, and the star of National Geographic Channel's Rocket City Rednecks which aired 2011–2013. Taylor has written numerous technical papers, science fiction novels, and two textbooks. He has appeared in television documentaries, including NGC's When Aliens Attack and starring as the lead investigator in History Channel's The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.

Travis Shane Taylor was born July 24, 1968, in Decatur, Alabama in North Alabama. His father, Charles Taylor, worked as a machinist at Wyle Laboratories, which subcontracted for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s. As a boy, Taylor read science fiction and dismantled household electronics. While in high school, Taylor's family moved to Somerville, near Huntsville. At 17 years old, with the help of his neighbor, he built a radio telescope that won the state science fair. This led the Army to offer Taylor a job working at Redstone Arsenal on direct energy weapons systems directly out of high school as well as a scholarship.