Monday, August 02, 2010

The 2010 MUFON Symposium

So, as many of you know, I was at the MUFON UFO Symposium in Denver recently and have to admit I had a good time. Most of those attending were serious researchers, investigators, writers, and interested parties who wished solid answers based on evidence rather than wild speculations based on imagination. I was disappointed when one retired military officer seemed to be an exception to this rule. He seemed to embrace everything without worrying about evidence, but he was in a very small minority.

The programing was exquisite. The first was Richard Dolan who talked about what would happen after the government disclosed UFOs were extraterrestrial craft. He preached gloom and doom and I tend to be more optimistic about it. Dolan, however, made a good case for the changes faced by society, especially if the disclosure came at a time when the alien craft were landing. I know that no technologically inferior society has ever survived contact with a superior technology. Even the introduction of the horse to the plains radically alter the Indian way of life.

I looked forward to the presentation by Linda Moulton Howe because it dealt with the Bentwaters UFO landing and she had brought John Burroughs (seen here) with her. I had met him years ago while I was in Phoenix at a UFO conference. We traveled together to do a early morning radio talk show and I gained some insight into the case. Howe has spent a great deal of time investigating this case and she presented some very interesting points, including one that seemed to remove a skeptical explanation from the mix... though I suspect few believed that the airman and officers were fooled by the spinning of a lighthouse beam that had always been there.
I also enjoyed the talk by Marc D’Antonio but only because he lets his personality loose while on the stage. His presentation was interesting as well as informative.

Stan Friedman was, well, Stan Friedman. Say what you will about him, he’s very good on the stage and he presents his information in a very entertaining way. He’s been at it for decades and the polish shows. John Greenewald had the hosting duties again and was as brilliant as ever. He takes the job seriously and tries to provide each speaker with a build up that will impress the audience. He’s a fine and entertaining speaker in his own right.

I had a chance, brief though it was, to talk with Nick Redfern (seen here), who is going to review my latest book. I couldn’t help but ask what he thought and was pleased to learn that he had enjoyed it... which, of course, doesn’t mean that he won’t have some criticism about it (and provides me an opportunity to another plug of Crash: When UFOs Fall from the Sky).

And I sat next to Frank Salisbury (seen here) in the vendor area, who was there with a couple of his books, including an interesting update on his The Utah UFO Display: A Scientist’s Report. I had first run into him many years ago at a UFO convention sponsored by APRO. He had this book with him then. I didn’t know that in the new, updated version, I would actually find my own name, but there it was, in a short discussion on the Roswell UFO case in the introduction.

I didn’t know what a funny guy he was either. We had a couple of nice chats about UFOs, computers, and stealing customers from one another... He would often point them toward me, and if I couldn’t sell something to someone, I’d point them back to Frank.

One thing I did notice was a preponderance of geezers, which, for a moment troubled me but then I had an epiphany. The problem wasn’t that the youngsters weren’t interested in UFOs, or that they didn’t care what we geezers had to say, but that they probably couldn’t afford the time or money to attend the symposium. In this shaky economy, the youngsters, just starting out, might not have had the disposable income for a rather expensive weekend in Denver, not to mention children at home and a work schedule that might intrude.

Which is not to say that there weren’t many younger people there. There certainly were and they were just as excited about the symposium as were we geezers.

If I had a complaint, it was only that the WiFi connections in the common areas, the lobby, the vendor area (seen here), the restaurants, was not as reliable as it could have been. Of course, it seemed that every time I managed to logon, someone would appear to ask a question or two. Before I could get back to the computer, the connection was lost.

Next year they have decided that the symposium will be held in Orange County, California. I’m sure it will be a fine venue and I’m sure they’ll have no trouble transferring the expertise from Denver to Orange County. It might be good to move the symposium around, as they have done in the past, but frankly, I’ll miss Denver. I grew up there and I like the chance to get back into the old stomping grounds again.

6 comments:

Keith Chester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Philosopher's Mess said...

I am a younger researcher and I would love to attend something like this, but the price is too high. If they came down on the amount more people would attend or they could even do a stream of the speakers for a small fee. There definetely is an inerest but the key is creating an environment where everybody can participate. California does not sound like these things.

Lee Dines said...

Hi Kevin

I also enjoyed the MUFON symposium, although the journey from the UK was rather tiring (and expensive). I also appreciated the opportunity to meet with you, and the other speakers. I have just completed “crashed” and its “refreshing” to read an objective, well researched book, addressing such a compelling, albeit controversial aspect of the field. Project Blue Book was also a good read ( and a bargain for $4!).

As well as the speakers you mentioned in your post, I also enjoyed Dr Robert LeLieuvre’s lecture (Omega 3 study). Regardless of the etiology of such accounts (abductions), the study is certainly interesting.

Best wishes

Lee

Kelly Milner Halls said...

Dr. Randle, it was so nice to meet you at the MUFON Symposium in Denver. Thank you for signing my book and thank you for saying you'd allow an interview for my project for young readers. I have five simple questions about UFO crashes I hope you'll answer by email or telephone. Where can I send them? Thanks again for your expertise and assistance.

Best wishes,

Kelly Milner Halls
Children's Writer
http://www.kellymilnerhalls.com
kellymilnerh@aol.com
kellymilnerh@yahoo.com

cda said...

You were troubled by the presence of too many 'geezers' . I once read Bob Girard's (of Arcturus Books) comments about a con he attended many years ago. What concerned him was the presence of too many overweight males! I don't know if Nick Redfern, from his earlier comments, has anything to add to this re MUFON 2010.

chAange my name please said...

So after decades worth of modern era research, where are we in all of this? Do ETs walk amongst us? Did they fiddle with our DNA thousands of years ago? How about a summation of what we know, if anything. . .