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X-Conference 2

4.1.5

The Road to X-Conference

We begin this week's R2X with the first of two impending big announcements. As a special treat to the many throughout esoterica who can't get enough Binnall of America, I am pleased to announce that I will be bringing a small wealth of binnallofamerica.com related merchandise. Plan on attending X-Conference ? If you see me, mention the merchandise, and I'll give it to you for free.

This week, we focus on another big name in Ufology that some may overlook, due to his lack of "star quality" in the esoteric radio world, Walt Andrus. In the world of Ufology, this guy would be termed a "lifer" as he's been in the field 57 years. He also happens to be the founder of MUFON and ran it for 30 years. MUFON being the preeminent UFO organization in the world and is the closest thing to an "official body" that Ufology has.

Andrus is one of only a handful of people who watched the evolution of the science from practically day 1, from within the movement. He's had over half a century to ponder the questions behind the UFO phenomenon and his answers should be weighty, to say the least. He is a must-catch for anyone in the field, as he is a witness to history like few others.

Kudos go out to Mr.Andrus, 84, who will also be inducted into the Paradigm Research Group Hall of Fame, joining Stanton Friedman as the only 2 living members of the Hall. Andrus will both speak at that induction and also a lecture during the weekend. Here's brief description of what he will be discussing at his lecture (from the x-conference website) :

During the 30 years he served as the International Director of the Mutual UFO Network, Walt Andrus witnessed the explosion of public awareness, the second stage of Hollywood's ET gravy train (beginning with 2001 Space Odyssey), the final years of NICAP, the emergence of cable television, the rise of the Internet, thousands of related web sites and the birth of the "politics of disclosure" - exopolitics. Throughout this time MUFON was and still is the largest and most recognized public organization engaging the phenomena. The 2005 PRG Hall of Fame recipient will talk about these years and what he learned.

I'm looking forward to hearing what Andrus has to say and how much he has to say about the goverment's role in Ufology during his time. His thoughts on the changing perceptions of UFOs by the general public should also be fascinating. Perhaps the most important is the "big picture" perspective he may have. Essentially, his wisdom with respect to UFOs is boundless, so I'm hoping to glean just a tad or more from him at X-Conference.

This coming Tuesday, I'll be talking about the "Meet the Speakers Cocktail Party". This is a once, soon to be twice, in a lifetime event that is a rare chance to see the giants of Ufology out of their element and a nice peak behind the curtain. I was at last year's Party and will detail it, plus a preview of this year's Party.

Obviously, I want to encourage anyone in the area of D.C. to check out this conference. The simplest reason to take a nice road trip down to the show is because if you live on this side of the country, UFO conventions of quality are few and far between. The vast majority of them seem to be on the west coast, making less expensive trips nearly impossible. So if you are in NY, Boston, New England, Philadelphia, or any of those large metropolitan areas on the East Coast, this is your best bet for a surefire quality UFO convention without having to spend huge money to fly to LA, New Mexico, or Nevada. So ... take the chance, make the trip, get free binnall merchandise, and have an amazing time.