Crashed Saucers and Saucer Conferences
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PSYCHIC VIBRATIONS ROBERT SHEAFFER Crashed Saucers and Saucer Conferences he fortieth annual National zines, and videos. The truth is, apart least not any child of this earth—the UFO Conference (NUFOC), from the occasional blockbuster like implication is that the shoe must have held in North Hollywood, Whitley Strieber's Communion, these been worn by an extraterrestrial. T days UFO promoters count themselves The noted UFOIogist Budd Hopkins California, this past September, repre- sented a highly creative (if disorganized) lucky if they can break even. UFO stepped outside his usual role as a pro- group of UFO enthusiasts that has given Magazine is struggling to resume publi- moter of UFO-abduction claims to die world such classic tales as the Men in cation, organizations are shrinking, and regale the Crash Retrieval Conference Black, the MJ-12 conspiracy, and The book sales are extremely slow. The one with the story of a supposed UFO crash Mothman Prophecies. James Moseley, bright spot, selling UFO videos, is mod- that occurred in 1963 north of franchiser and organizer of the past esdy profitable for only few dealers, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Perhaps this thirty-four conferences, has visibly assuming that they don't spend much in is a sign that UFO-abduction mania is slowed down since the last time I saw travel and shipping costs. But don't con- fading and crash-retrieval claims may be him. We reminisced how at the 1980 clude from the above that levels of UFO taking its place. Hopkins's presentation NUFOC in New York City, he had belief are dropping. UFO belief is prob- featured "two videotaped, firsthand treated the speakers to a splendid dinner ably as high as ever, but with the growth interviews of hospital and ambulance at the Windows on the World restaurant of die Internet and die sensationalized workers diat responded to a call from atop the World Trade Center. "We won't pseudo-documentaries on cable TV state police. Upon arrival, there were be doing that again," he remarked, mak- channels, it's just gotten harder to three small alien bodies and an extrater- ing it clear that he didn't mean just for squeeze money from the believers. UFO restrial craft. The bodies were X-rayed the obvious reason. In spite of a very enthusiasts can get the titillation they and examined, but soon after, the Air favorable location, the preregistration are craving without having to pay much, Force confiscated the evidence and told for this year's conference was smaller if anything, to get it. witnesses that 'this never happened' and than the state's average grade-school One recent UFO conference that did not to tell anyone." Once again, intre- class size. Once a celebrated party ani- show somewhat better attendance was pid UFOIogists got "this close" to hav- mal, Moseley excused himself to the die First Annual UFO Crash Retrieval ing their eagerly sought, smoking-gun assembled tipplers and turned in early. Conference held in Henderson, Nevada, evidence, only to have it snatched away The UFO business isn't what it used this past November. The conference by the Conspiracy. And what is it about to be—only about eighty people turned attracted about 200 attendees, meaning New Mexico that seems to induce out for a world-class conference in the that its organizers probably broke even. equipment failure in UFOs as they fly heart of Los Angeles. From a distance, Perhaps the most dramatic piece of evi- over? At least half a dozen saucers must die skeptic might assume that big dence, as recounted by Moseley, was Art have crashed in Roswell, if all the con- money is being made fleecing the Campbell's description of a tiny shoe he flicting crash-site accounts are to be gullible with books, conferences, maga- says he found on the Plains of San believed. San Augustin, Aztec, and now Augustin in New Mexico, a location Albuquerque—the state is a veritable Robert Sheaffer's World Wide Web page for that reportedly had its own UFO crash. saucer graveyard. Probably the UFOs and other skeptical subjects is at Because this shoe is so small and narrow Reticulans know it as "the New Mexico www.debunker.com. that it could not fit even a child—at Triangle," where their craft seem to 2 4 May/June 2004 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER vanish without a trace. In Arizona, some period of approximately 2.43 years, tak- skeptical, ponder this: the existence of shops sell as a novelty item a Flying ing it from past the orbit of Mars at its extraterrestrial intelligence has just got- Saucer Pilot's License, valid in that state. farthest point from the Sun to just ten five times more likely, at least If such a license is sold in New Mexico, inside Earth's orbit, where the rock met according to leading British bookmak- it should be scrupulously avoided, as it its doom. ers. They recently cut the odds diat the seems that every attempt to fly a UFO Even before any UFO claims began Prime Minister will acknowledge the across New Mexico results in a new to surface about it, the Great Lakes existence of ETI by the end of 2004 crash-retrieval site. Fireball was cited as illustrating the from 500:1 to 100:1 (see www.william But one alleged UFO crash that's unreliability of eyewitness testimony. hillmedia.com/index_template.asp?file= currendy getting a lot of attention took Prof. G. W. Wetherill, a professor of 2782). No word on what prompted the place a long way from there, in geophysics and geology at UCLA who re-evaluation, but perhaps they've been Kecksburg, Pennsylvania. According to investigated the incident, was quoted in watching the Sci Fi Channel. witnesses, just before 5 P.M. on the clear Sky and Telescope (February, 1966): "The Perhaps the most exciting recent winter afternoon of December 9, 1965, fireball was observed by many people in development in woo-woo land was the a "fireball" that "seemed to be under Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, announcement by George Noory, host some type of intelligent control" and to a lesser extent in neighboring of the late-night talk show Coast to Coast appeared to crash in the woods near states. In newspaper accounts, a great AM, that he would be participating in an Kecksburg (sec http://ufocascbook.com/ many supposed impact sites were experiment in time travel with the Kecksburg.html). State police respon- reported, both in southwestern "physicist and hypnotherapist, Irving ded to reports of an object crashing, but Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Frag- Glotch." Glotch's device is said to per- didn't find anything. But according to ments were claimed to have fallen in form "dimensional" rather than "physi- some accounts, the military cordoned Ohio and Michigan. These imagined cal" travel. It is said to use "eye flutter- off die area, and hauled off an acorn- happenings arose from the impossibility ing," "special tones," and a "massaging of shaped metal object to some unknown of estimating the distance of an object in die nerves" to transport the fearless trav- destination. the sky. Almost everyone who saw the eler backward (but not forward) in time. The Sci Fi Channel premiered a sen- fireball thought it was much closer than (See www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/ sationalist pseudo-documentary on it really was. When it disappeared 2003/12/17.html#glotch.) Glotch re- October 24, 2003, tided "The New behind a house or a tree many people minds his listeners not to confuse his Roswell: Kecksburg Exposed." As one thought it had fallen only a few hundred time-travel device with his "teleporta- might imagine, it leaned heavily toward yards beyond." tion" device, which works on different the claims that a saucer crashed and was Nor is any of this information partic- principles. "I teleported a small plant covered up by the military, giving short ularly new. Astronomer Robert Young and a mouse from point A to point B. shrift to any skeptical explanations. debunked the Kecksburg Crash claims But cannot disclose anything else at this The only problem with the so-called when they first appeared on the TV time on this subject." "Kecksburg Crash" is that the object was show Unsolved Mysteries \n 1990, which Appropriately, timc-onztii Noory will identified long ago, was reported to have got extremely high ratings. (See "Old- be wearing "an aluminum suit, crashed in many different places, and is solved Mysteries: The Kecksburg although Glotch insists that this is not known to have actually disintegrated Incident," SI, Spring 1991). Young's "necessary," but merely "helpful" in con- above Ontario. What the UFO believers paper was revised and reprinted in the taining "the force field." Glotch, who are calling the Kecksburg Crash is book The UFO Invasion (Frazier, Karr, says he has been working on his time- known to astronomers as "the Great and Nickel, eds. Prometheus Books, travel device for twenty-four years, Lakes Fireball of December 9, 1965" 1997). It has been carefully ignored by explains, "The field of universal life is Indeed, it is one of the best-studied fire- UFO proponents. an uncharted force. George Lucas was balls in history, because of the clear skies The Sci Fi Channel has clearly done correct in his Star Wars movies about the and mild weather that permitted large an extremely good job of leading the force." Noory says that the time periods numbers of people to sec it. It has been public astray. A poll on its Web site he is most interested in exploring are written up in leading astronomy jour- revealed diat 67 percent of those taking Roswell, New Mexico in July, 1947, and nals, including Sky and Telescope and the the poll believed that the object at the mid sixdi century, to see if an aster- Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society Kecksburg was an "alien craft" versus oid impact caused the Dark Ages.