Post by Joanna on Aug 8, 2014 22:26:05 GMT -5
Thousands make contact in Joshua Tree for UFO convention
JOSHUA TREE, Calif. – Lynette Michon said she’s never been a believer in UFOs or beings from other planets, but certain friends of hers do, and she always tries to keep an open mind. So when her friends invited her to Contact in the Desert, a four-day convention at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center that kicked off Friday, Michon couldn’t say no. She packed her bags and left home in Sacramento for the Mojave Desert.
“I’m completely skeptical. This is so beyond my comfort zone,” said Michon, 52, on Friday as she headed toward the center’s amphitheater to catch Erich Von Daniken, author of the 1968 book Chariots of the Gods, deliver the opening lecture called “Remnants of the Gods.” Von Daniken’s book, considered essential reading by many UFO enthusiasts, hypothesizes that the myths, religions, artifacts and structures of ancient civilizations derived from ancient aliens that visited Earth and were considered gods by those who witnessed their presence.
Contact in the Desert gathers the world’s leading scholars on the subject of UFOs and extraterrestrials in one place for a weekend of lectures and workshops. As of Friday, more than 2,000 people had registered for the sold out event. Among the featured guests this year include Giorgio Tsoukalos, host of the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens, radio personality George Noory, and alleged alien abductee Travis Walton, a former logger whose claims of being abducted by aliens in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona in November 1975 was made into a feature film based on his book, The Walton Experience.
Event coordinator Paul Andrews said so many people were calling about the event they had cut off registration on Thursday. He said people from all over the world – Canada, Australia, Great Britain, South Africa, Germany and the Netherlands traveled to Joshua Tree to participate in the otherworldly event.
What makes Contact in the Desert such a draw and different from other, more amateurish UFO conventions is the pool of scholars and celebrity personalities, Andrews said. “Fortunately, we’ve been blessed and we had the money to attract the top researchers in the world,” Andrews said Friday. “All the people in the UFO community know who these people are and will pay to come see them.”
Ben Moore and his girlfriend, Amber Lounsbery, traveled all the way from Ann Arbor, Mich., to attend the event. While he has always been curious about what is “out there,” Moore said his interest in UFOs and extraterrestrials has grown even more in the last three years with shows like Ancient Aliens and the work of David Wilcock, an author on the subject and recurring guest on Ancient Aliens. “There’s a vast universe out there,” said Moore, 34.
Source: Joe Nelson, The Sun, August 8, 2014.