Mar 01 2007
|
|
Sorry, I Was Out
The lack of posts has been due to my attendance at the 16th Annual International UFO Congress in Laughlin, Nevada. The hotel does not have a wi-fi system, and I forgot my computer anyway. Of course, Nick pre-wrote his posts and time-released them for the last few days. The man’s a certified pro. He’s still there, if you can make it before Sunday.
Bob Brown and his wife Teri have tirelessly hosted the IUFOC ever since the beginning, and it’s one of the most well-attended in the country. I’ve been going for years, and was actually invited to speak there last year. Tragically, Teri succumbed to cancer on the second day of the conference, on Monday, February 26th. One of her last wishes from the hospital was that the event proceed as planned. Husband Bob was there this morning talking to attendees and speakers. The strength of the Brown family is incredible, and I hope it carries through other conferences for many years to come.
I used to go to any UFO conference I could, but now I’m less interested in attending, unless I’m invited or there is a critical mass of people there who I know or want to meet. A couple of weeks ago, Nick asked if I was going, so that clinched it. As luck would have it, my friend and occasional radio co-host Walter Bosley was there representing the Lost Continent Library (LCL), his publishing company. On Tuesday afternoon, he introduced Sesh Heri, author of one of LCL’s latest books, Wonder Of The Worlds. Although a work of fiction, it is based on real historical events, and follows Nikola Tesla, Mark Twain, and Harry Houdini as they battle Martians in the 1890s. I’ll leave you to figure out what parts are true. I don’t normally read fiction, but I read it cover to cover in a couple of sittings. It’s that good.
These days, the part of UFO conventions I like the best are the conversations in the halls and over meals and drinks. During a dinner with Ryan Wood and Nick, the topic drifted to the subject of getting the general public to take notice of UFOs. Of course, I think that most people couldn’t care less about the subject, except as conversation fodder at parties, but Wood’s background in marketing gives him a different perspective. He’s convinced that a slow and steady stream of leaked information from official sources will produce results.
Former JFK assassination researcher and UFO author Jim Marrs talked about 9-11 conspiracy evidence to a receptive crowd. I am not totally convinced that the event was an inside job, but there are hundreds of issues that Marrs has uncovered that were ignored by the official investigation. He can also belt out a pretty decent version of “Great Balls Of Fire,” as I learned at the hotel’s karaoke bar.
Other notes from two whirlwind days of lost sleep, drunken nights, and caffeine-induced yak-fests:
Unnamed sources will be providing me with a copy of a videotape of Bill Moore’s controversial 1989 MUFON speech.
Lisa Davis says that she is still planning to convene the purloined National UFO Conference within a year.
X-Conference organizer Stephen Bassett reports that the theme of this year’s conclave will be “UFO Insiders” (he refers to government insiders.)
Bill “SERPO” Ryan is preparing to announce another insider leak–surprisingly, he didn’t take any offense at my post from last week, and continues to believe that the SERPO story contains at least some truth. We agree to disagree, and that makes him OK in my book.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 1:07 am and is filed under Books, Conferences, Reviews, UFOlogists, UFOlogy, Wake Up Down There. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.
del.icio.us Digg Reddit BlinkList Google Ma.gnolia StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Help
- Related News Stories:
- Probing UFO »
- Dulce Underground UFO Base Conference Scheduled »
- Retro UFO Conference This Weekend »
- The X-Conference »
- On The Road… »
- UFO Crash Conference Video »
- LAPIS - A Review »
- Posting Ahead »
- Interview Posted »
- Laughlin UFO Conference Trip »
|
March 1st, 2007 at 1:15 pm
“…getting the general public to take notice of UFOs. Of course, I think that most people couldn’t care less about the subject”.
Greg, you might be right, but my personal experience is people don’t so much “couldn’t care less” as find the whole ‘paranormal’ field unnerving on two fronts.
On the one hand, they’re egos’re terrified of showing even slight interest in case they suddenly find they’ve been opening up to someone with the witchfinder-general style aggression and intolerance of the true hardcore skeptopath.
On the other hand, they’re also terrified of having their sense of reality overly-challenged by opening up to someone with the witchfinder-general style aggression and intolerance of the true hardcore believer.
I must generally give off a peculiar air of tolerance to both believers and non-believers, because it’s amazing what members of both groups’ve spontaneously let me in on before I’ve even actually gotten round to giving my own particular angle of being a long time experiencer of the exceedingly strange without feeling the need to either believe or disbelieve, these days.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:05 am
Sorry I missed the Laughlin event. Sounds like the usual tomfoolery and I’m green with envy right now.
The Bill Moore ‘89 MUFON speech. Sweet Jesus ! Keep us updated on that gem, please !
X-Conference III sounds interesting, hopefully Steve can pull it off. I always had fun down there in DC.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Tim,
No need to be envious, although you would have had great opportunities for networking.
Apparently, the video of Moore’s talk is a continuous tight shot on him, without any panning for audience reactions. I don’t know if the microphone picked up anything besides his audio.
Re: The X-Conference. I may be invited to speak there. If so, I’ll be seeing you in D.C.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:20 pm
If there is an X-Conference in DC, I will be there, no doubt. If you make it out there, I’ll buy the first round of beers. Last I’d heard from Steve, in November, it didn’t look good, but things may have changed.
Given the nature of your clandestine procurement of the infamous Moore film, will you be able to a> put it online or b> put an MP3 of his speech online ? (Barring, of course, technical issues.) I’d like to see / hear this historical moment and I’m sure many, many others would too.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Tim,
I’ll hold you to that beer promise.
Miles Lewis from elfis.com also asked about youtube-ing the video. I suppose I’ll have to ask permission from Moore and MUFON, although we have to remember the maxim: “To seek permission is to seek refusal.” There may be a way around it, and I may have more problems with MUFON than with Bill.
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Alan,
Out here in California, I find that people are generally open to anomalous experiences, or even admitting to them. That’s only in my experience though, since I find that if I bring up the subject, it’s already opened up the good possibility that I won’t degrade anyone’s personal experinece. Fundamentalist skeptics like it when he subject is brought up, since it gives them a chance to “save” the wayward souls. Most people fall between the two extremes of course.