"UFOs - Past, Present, and the Paranormal"
2012 CONFERENCE SUMMARY
greater attention. Evidence was in no greater supply then in Ashland, Ohio for this year's 2012
MUFON of Ohio UFO Conference.
Over one hundred attendees gathered in Ashland, Ohio on June 9th to listen to speakers discussing
some of the most documented historic events in UFOlogy. Speakers, including John Ventre,
Capt. Robert Salas, and noted UFO researcher, Ted Phillips, provided the audience with an
abundance of evidence from the past and present, demonstrating that the UFO phenomenon
is real and impacting everyone's lives. As a bonus, MUFON's Executive Director, David MacDonald,
was also in attendance and shared his views on MUFON and its future and the state of UFOlogy in general.
John Ventre, MUFON of Pennsylvania's State Director, kicked things off with an overview of two historic UFO events celebrating anniversaries this year.
2012 marks the 70th anniversary of an event that has earned the title; The Battle of Los Angeles - 1942”.
John presented compelling evidence that what was suspected to be a Japanese air raid over
Los Angeles was actually caused by a UFO hovering over LA for several hours. He related
that almost 1500 rounds of artillery were fired at the object without it incurring damage.
Three bystanders, however, lost their lives from “friendly fire” in an attempt to bring down
the observed intruder. The few surviving photos of the event seem to show a disc shaped
object as the focus of the numerous searchlights fixed on the “unknown” object.
John also presented events related to the 1952 fly-over of Washington D.C. by a group
of UFOs; observed by eye witnesses, radar, and pilot interceptors. John discussed how
this event, currently celebrating its 60th anniversary, while extremely well documented and
witnessed by hundreds, was dismissed by authorities as a weather anomaly on two occasions
over the period of a single week.
Capt. Robert Salas (ret) brought the audience up to the year 1967, when UFOs hovering directly over an ICBM missile installation at Malmstrom AFB in Montana rendered almost a dozen strike
ready ICBM missiles inoperative in a matter of minutes. Capt. Salas, while in a command capacity,
witnessed all of the missiles go to a “no go” state as their guidance systems were erased of their
programmed launch data. This incursion caused massive efforts by ground personnel to re-program
the missiles to a “flight-ready” status. His Capt. Salas played numerous audio statements made by
ground crew members corroborating the events of that night as well as sharing their eyewitness accounts.
As an active member of the “Disclosure Project”, Capt. Salas also provided the audience with
an overview of why the disclosure by our government of what it knows about the UFO phenomenon
should be of high priority to everyone.
If 2012 gets added to the list of milestone years in UFOlogy, it will probably be due to the efforts of the final speaker of the conference, Ted Phillips. A seasoned researcher, Ted Phillips has
dedicated his life to investigating the UFO phenomenon with a special interest in the collection
and cataloging of physical trace evidence left as a result of reported UFO events.
He is currently focusing a great deal of his investigative effort on an area of Missouri he has
labeled “Marley Woods”. His efforts at Marley Woods are leading Ted to believe that the
UFO phenomenon is more then just “nuts and bolts”. His presentation included numerous photographs
showing light orbs; some as close as several feet from the observers. He has documented numerous
and varied anomalous events using state of the art equipment to document his findings.
In the roughly 3 square mile area of his investigation, he and other witnesses have observed what
appear to be “ghostly” apparitions and further light orb anomalies in local buildings as well as
other “paranormal” events of numerous types. Ted admits that although he was initially a skeptic
of the “paranormal”, the events of Marley Woods have demonstrated a substantial connection
between UFOs and the paranormal.
UPDATE: We are saddened at the loss of Ted to UFOlogy. He is sorely missed.
MUFON announced a new Executive Director and MUFON of Ohio was fortunate in having him attend our conference this year. David MacDonald, of Cincinnati, Ohio, spoke
briefly about the current state and future of MUFON. MUFON is now based in Cincinnati and
this year's international conference will be held at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center
just across the river from Cincinnati on Aug 3rd thru the 6th. Mr. MacDonald stated that two
major MUFON initiatives of international importance would be announced at this year's conference.
As has become customary, a panel discussion wrapped up the days events with the speakers
fielding questions from the audience. The panel included (l to r) Bill Jones, Dave McDonald,
Phyllis Budinger,Ted Phillips, John Ventre, and Capt. Robert Salas
MUFON of Ohio would like to thank all of this years speakers for sharing with those in attendance
their knowledge of the “Past, Present, and the Paranormal” in UFOlogy.
