If someone is willing to put in the time, effort, and money into putting on a convention, common sense would hold that this someone believes strongly in said cause. I mean, if the adage wasn’t true, Comic-Con wouldn’t exist, or maybe it would, but it’d be a neutered, unrecognizable version of its current self.
But such presuppositions don’t apply to the creator of this weekend’s UFO Con at the Santa Clara Marriott, Brian William Hall. Hall “does not believe in UFOs and aliens,” as he remarked in a recent phone interview with the Guardian.
In fact, Hall (who, not surprisingly, is also the lead organizer of Santa Clara’s yearly Conspiracy Con) doesn’t even believe in the word “believe.” According to him, “what we believe has absolutely nothing to do with the truth”. He and co-producer Lorien Fenton, – whose first name sounds like a constellation – aren’t staging the convention to speculate over Area 51 and blurry photos of circular objects.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxbtQDUBiMs
Rather, they are utilizing UFO Con as a means in exploring and investigating the questions that have dogged humankind since the time of the first cave paintings. Why are we here? Where have we been? Where are we going? Perhaps you can uncover the answers via the convention’s packed schedule of speakers expounding on such topics as cosmic mythology, abductions, and ufology. Below, we presented to you five mind-bending talks aim to place your consciousness on a higher level, though there is the possibility they will leave you with more questions than answers.
Andrew D. Basiago: “Jump Room”
Basiago’s speech will mainly touch on the CIA’s secret Mars project that supposedly had agents “jumping” through the space-time continuum. CIA conspiracy check.
Sat/15, 5:15-6:30pm
Michael Schratt: “UFO Magical Mystery Tour”
Colorful in name and in content, the UFO Magical Mystery Tour will take you on an stirring ride through the subject of ufology. Case by case, Schratt will debunk the misinformation surrounding such events as the flying pyramid, the army helicopter incident, and the Hudson Valley boomerang.
Sat/15, 10:15-11:30am
Les Velez: “OPUS: The Organization For Paranormal Understanding and Support”
It’s hard out here for UFO conspiracists ain’t it? If you’ve had any “extraordinary states of consciousness, fortean, spiritual, or parapsychological phenomenon, close encounters with non-human entities, and/or UFO activity” and are feeling pretty shook about it then OPUS is there for you.
Sat/15, 9:00am-10:00am
Kim Carlsberg: “My Secret Life: One Woman’s Account of Eight Years of Alien Abduction”
Hey it wouldn’t be UFO Con if there wasn’t someone talking about being abducted by aliens. Carlsberg, a heavy hitter in the literary genre of “contact literature” will be enlightening the audience about her encounters of the third kind which first started in 1988 on a beach in Malibu.
Sun/16, noon-1:15pm
Richard Dolan: “UFO’s For The 21st Century Mind”
Richard Dolan could be considered one of the headliners of UFOSpaceCon seeing how he is one the most prominent and respected researchers when it comes to UFOs and the like. Dolan will dutifully explain that despite all the peril our modern world faces, UFOs are just as relevant today as they were last century because when faced with climate change and economic depression people lose sight of the bigger cosmic picture. Highly recommended for forward-thinking types.
Sun/16, 10:30-11:45am
UFO Con
Sat/15-Sun/16, $89-$159
Santa Clara Marriott
2700 Mission College, Santa Clara