Historical markers were once just for American history. But many now claim aliens have visited Earth from outer space — and they aren't hedging.

In 1963, William Lewis Moore was murdered in Alabama while on a civil rights protest walk. Silence around the murder bothered one man for years, until he campaigned to put up a marker about it.

Historical markers dot the American landscape. They are on the sides of roads, in parks, rest areas, in the middle of nowhere. They purport to offer a glimpse into the past, marking a moment or place of significance worth remembering. But a year-long investigation by NPR's Laura Sullivan found some of these markers present a fractured and confused telling of the American story. Some share humor and joy but many present a version of history that's been distorted or outright fictionalized with offensive lies.

The U.S. marks the amazing, the curious and the problematic. Here are some samples.

The nation's historical markers delight, distort and, sometimes, just get the story wrong.