(Interdimensional Guardians via Flickr)
Aficionados of the extraterrestrial, mark your calendars — a two-day UFO conference will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 30 at the Quality Inn on Route 28, preceded on Friday, July 29 by an opportunity to meet the event’s speakers at 6 p.m. and a screening of Jenn Stein’s documentary film Travis: The True Story of Travis Walton at the same location at 7 p.m.
“There’s been a number of Kingston [UFO] sightings,” said Jeff Gold of Woodstock, organizer of the event. “The Hudson Valley is a hot place for this phenomena. There is a lot of interest in this area.”
Stein’s documentary delves into the story of Travis Walton, a then 21-year-old logger who was allegedly abducted by a spacecraft back in 1975. Walton and six other men in his logging crew had been clearing brush in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona when, according to eyewitnesses, the group saw a 40-foot saucer-shaped hovering object. The story goes that Walton jumped out of his vehicle, raced toward the UFO and was struck by what appeared to be a blue bolt of lightning before disappearing. Until Walton reappeared about a week later, telling a story of being taken aboard a craft and being examined by “small, bald men,” his logging crew was suspected of murdering their crewmate. This film combines new and archived interviews with the logging crew, police and the polygraph examiner who tested the loggers after their encounter to explore what is regarded as the best-documented UFO sighting and abduction in history.
“There were about 700 people involved, so it cannot be pushed under the rug as easily as people would like,” said Stein.
Stein will also be the first speaker at the conference on Saturday, and will discuss crop circles in the U.S. and the so-called “Electric Universe Theory.” She has researched crop circles since 2003 when she filmed the twenty-minute documentary A Crop Circle Journey with Chet and Kalista Snow, and has since produced films regarding outer space and extraterrestrials such as Peace in Outer Space Treaty and The Disclosure Dialogues.
“It’s much like Copernicus when no one believed that the earth was round,” said Stein, “That was blasphemy and was not accepted for 400 years. We are in the same position now.”
Peter Robbins, co-author of the book “Left at East Gate: A First-Hand Account of the Bentwaters-Woodbridge UFO Incident, Its Cover-Up and Investigation” will be presenting on the well-publicized Rendlesham Forest UFO incident in Britain. Ufologist Richard Dolan will be speaking about “UFO’s for the 21st century mind”, Dr. Nathan Rosenblum will share the effects of the Sirius star system and its inhabitants on Earth and Laird Scranton will teach the conference about the ancient people of Skara Brae, Scotland and their possible contact with aliens based on artifacts that have been uncovered.
The film screening on July 29 will have an $8 cover charge; the conference the day afterwards will cost $20. Call (845) 339-3900 to book a hotel reservation, and email goldmineaudio@gmail.com to register. Visit cstapes.com for more information.